2015 Pan Pacific Veterinary Conference

The nature of the equine industry means that most equestrian businesses operate with a higher level of disease risk than would be accepted in the farming industry. Many of the cornerstones of biosecurity and disease risk management in farming cannot be easily applied to equestrian businesses including not mixing animals from different populations, not mixing age groups, operating all-in/all-out policies, having minimum standards of training for personnel, requiring no movement of personnel between farms, preventing access by unauthorised personnel, stocking farms only with animals of known health status and provenance and requiring minimum health and vaccination standards. Populations of horses from different yards and different backgrounds frequently mix with each other for competition and showing. It is only at the elite end of the equestrian sector and in racing where the health status of horses is more homogeneous. However, it is perfectly possible for all yards to devise biosecurity programmes that will reduce disease risk whilst not interfering with business. Practical biosecurity programmes reduce the risk of disease entry into yards (disease prevention plans) and reduce the risk of disease spread within the yard or to other yards (disease contingency plans) in the event of an outbreak. Exactly the same planning applies to equestrian events, large and small. Biosecurity plans should be risk based, proportionate, acceptable and achievable, and facilitate the business. Perhaps the most important task for practitioners is to communicate clear messages about biosecurity: effective biosecurity it in everyone’s reach, small changes make a big difference, effective biosecurity safeguards businesses and will not interfere with good business practice. In this session delegates will see how to construct a risk based, bespoke biosecurity plan.