“Critical thinking” is the process of evaluating the merit and reliability of a stated fact and deciding whether the fact should be accepted or rejected. In other words, don’t believe everything you read. Be a critical thinker and a critical reader!
In doing some background research for a riding safety article, I came across a 1995 Emergency Radiology jour
Drug compounding can be defined as the art and science of mixing ingredients, which may be active, inactive or both, to create a specific dosage form to meet a specific patient’s needs. Compounding can be performed by a veterinarian or by a pharmacist upon receipt of a veterinarian’s prescription. A veterinarian must have a valid veterinarian-client-patient relationship (VCPR ) to
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published 2008 data on 6,841 confirmed animal rabies cases in 49 states and Puerto Rico. (Hawaii is rabies-free.) Of these, 93 percent were confirmed in wildlife; 7 percent in domestic species. These represent a fraction of the total number of rabid animals in the US since many cases are not observed and are undetected.
All states (ex
The International Collating Center, Newmarket, England, and other sources reported the following disease outbreaks.
Contagious equine metritis (CEM) was reported in France (one case), Germany (two cases) and the United Arab Emirates that involved a non-breeding Thoroughbred stallion detected on pre-export testing.
Outbreaks of equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) related diseas
Neonatal isoerythrolysis (NI) is caused by an incompatibility of blood types between a mare and her foal. If a foal inherits from its sire a red cell factor (antigen) that the mare lacks, the mare may develop antibodies to that antigen. There is no harm to the foal in utero, as there is no comingling of the mare’s blood with that of the fetus. However, these antibodies will be present in
Disease monitoring is the ongoing systematic collection, analysis, and distribution of health-related information. Surveillance is a process that is specific for a particular disease within a defined monitoring system and implies that an intervention strategy will be initiated at some predetermined threshold level. For a disease like equine infectious anemia (EIA) or cases of a foreign anima
 The International Collating Centre, Newmarket, England, and other sources reported the following disease outbreaks.
Contagious equine metritis (CEM) was recorded in France, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the United Kingdom, and the USA. France confirmed three cases on one premises and one case on another premises. Switzerland reported Taylorella asinigenital
Equine proliferative enteropathy (EPE) is an emerging intestinal disease primarily of recently weaned foals. Lawsonia intracellularis, the causative bacterium of EPE, is capable of inducing similar disease in many animal species, most notably swine. To date, comparatively little research has been undertaken into the disease in horses.
From September 25 through October 10, 2010, the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky, will host the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG). More than 700 equine athletes representing 60 different countries are expected to be imported into Kentucky to compete in one of the eight World Championship competitions.
The Kentucky State Veterinarian’s Office has regulatory res
The introduction of a damaging animal disease like foot-and-mouth could devastate American animal agriculture, harm the economy, and, for zoonotic reasons, threaten the public’s health. Having enough resources for a rapid response is crucial.
The National Veterinary Stockpile (NVS), part of the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service-Veterinary Services, exists to provide
One of the most often used and least understood immunological terms is antibody titer. But what does titer mean, and how can this information be used in assessing the immune status of a horse?
A titer is defined as the concentration of specific antibodies in the blood that recognize a particular agent, such as equine influenza virus. The titer is determined by serially
Fortunately, nitrate/nitrite poisoning is not a common problem in horses. However, due to serious and potentially fatal consequences of nitrate/nitrite poisoning, horse owners should be aware of the condition and understand the risk factors.
Nitrate/nitrite poisoning in animals is caused by ingestion of excessive amounts of nitrate or nitrite from forages or weeds, nitrate containing
Imagine that overnight a new state law goes into effect declaring that from now on you do not own your animals but rather you are their “guardian.” Does this sound farfetched? Some local communities have already made this change The first legal step on this road has been the addition of “owner-guardian” language to local ordinances, then changing the wording to “guardian” only. One state now
The International Collating Centre, Newmarket, England, and other sources reported the following disease outbreaks.
Contagious equine metritis (CEM) was recorded in France, the United States, and the United Kingdom (UK). One case of Taylorella equigenitalis infection was confirmed in France. The number of CEM-carrier animals detected in the USA since the disease was
Infectious diseases are a constant risk to the health and welfare of horses. Along with vaccination, preventive management techniques are critical to disease prevention.
Horse owners should:
Following is a report by the animal health surveillance network (RAIZO) of the Ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation du Québec.
Only two cases of Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) had been reported in Québec in the past 35 years until the fall of 2008, when the province experienced an outbreak of the disease. The first case was reported by Sonia Chénier,
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