“There are a huge number of (vaccine) choices out there and it’s hard sometimes to see our way through the forest,” said Julia Wilson, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, associate professor in Veterinary Population Medicine at the University of Minnesota. “What we should be doing is thinking about what the risk is of that disease, not just for the individual horse, but the group of horses it lives with. Think good and hard about how good the vaccine is, its safety, and whether that horse is going to be at risk for adverse effects.”

Wilson encouraged veterinarians to think critically about vaccine recommendations during the In-Depth: Vaccination session at the 2005 American Association of Equine Practitioners’ Convention, held Dec. 3-7 in Seattle, Wash. “Think of where the horse is going to be going over the next year,” she said. “We have had really bad strangles in the Midwest, for example. So if you don’t have strangles in your area, and you have a client that wants to move to the Midwest, that’s one I want you to think about.”

Remember that seasonal risks are longer for arboviral diseases (those spread by mosquitoes) in some areas such as Florida, so horse owners should have their horses boostered with vaccines against encephalitis (Eastern equine encephalitis, EEE, and West Nile virus, WNV) if they’re planning to travel to events such as the Florida winter show circuit. Some diseases tend to be more regional; for example, mares going to the breeding shed in Kentucky should be vaccinated for rotavirus and botulism. Wilson included a “Risk Assessment for Vaccination Decisions” form in the convention proceedings, for horse owners to complete before consulting with their veterinarian about vaccination.

Wilson encourages veterinarians to look at not only the individual’s risk of exposure to diseases, but the entire farm’s risk. She said, “I would like to advocate that, whenever possible, we convince facilities to have a policy where they don’t bring unvaccinated horses or horses with unknown vaccination status to the facilities.” She also promotes open lines of communication. “We need to share when we have a contagious disease (with the community) for the best interest of the horses. There has to be some way around the client confidentiality where we can let each other know about outbreaks without violating that