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The simple biosecurity measures below are
relevant to everyone who owns or works with
horses or donkeys – whether they are kept as
a hobby or as a business.
Visitors on your property
Only allow visitors contact with your horses if
necessary. Keep visitors out of stable areas
and paddocks if they don't need to be there.
Don’t allow unnecessary traffic from vehicles
on your property, they can park outside or in a
designated parking area (which doesn’t share
common ground with regular horse traffic) and
if it is a large property use your own vehicles to
show them around. If your visitors are working
regularly with outside horses and you allow
them to have close contact with your horses,
make them aware that you require them to
have clean clothes and footware on. Even the
simple act of washing your hands regularly
can make a large difference to a disease or
condition being spread. Ensure vets, farriers
and others providing equine services use clean
equipment on your animals.
Avoid bringing problems home
Most diseases are introduced to a horse
property with the arrival of a new horse that is
already infected or is a carrier of a disease, or
through a horse coming into contact with a
diseased horse – for example, while
attending an event.
Handling new arrivals A pre-purchase
examination by a veterinarian is always helpful.
Depending on where the horse has come from,
screening tests for specific diseases may also
be advisable. Consult your veterinarian for advice.
Isolate new arrivals from resident horses for at
least two weeks, and check them daily for any
signs of ill health. While in isolation, horses
should be given an effective worm paste
Visiting horse properties
People can introduce diseases if they handle an
infected horse and then handle another horse
soon afterwards. If you have been in contact with
other horses, you need to thoroughly wash your
hands before handling your own horses; also
consider changing your clothes. Don't share your
horse’s or donkey’s equipment with neighbours
or other people, unless you make sure it's
thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before coming
back into contact with your horse or donkey. This
includes headstalls, bits, rugs, saddlecloths, feed
and water bins.
Prevent disease spread
The sooner a problem is detected, the easier it is
to deal with. Horses should be checked daily to
ensure that they are healthy and injury-free.
Insect control is important, particularly in stables.
Ensure good drainage and manure disposal and
management to prevent insects such as
mosquitos and march flies from breeding.
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Stables, equipment and transport vehicles
should be cleaned and disinfected regularly.
Wipes, rags or towels, for example, can easily
transfer infections from horse to horse, and need
thorough washing after use. Disinfection and
cleaning is particularly important for foaling boxes.
A horse that is showing signs of sickness should
be isolated. Ideally, people handling a sick horse
should not handle other horses. If this is not
possible, make sure you handle the sick horse
last, then wash your hands thoroughly and change
your clothes before going near any other horses.
Any gear, such as rugs, halters, lead ropes, feed
bins, and grooming brushes, should also be kept
separate, used only for the sick horse, and then
disinfected before being used on other horses.
Studs and large operations
Properties with a large number of horses
segregate their horses by age and use, for
example, keeping yearlings separate from older
horses. You should always wash your hands
between handling groups of horses. Pregnant
mares require special care. They are best
separated from other horses, particularly new
arrivals, and in large enterprises should be kept
in small groups based on foaling date. This will
ensure that if abortion is due to an infectious
agent such as equine herpes virus, the spread to
other pregnant mares will be limited. Any such
abortion should always be investigated as soon
as possible by a veterinarian.
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Boundary fences
Nose-to-nose contact between your horses
and those on a neighbouring property may
allow an infectious disease to spread. This
risk can be managed by keeping horses away
from the boundary or using double fencing.
A line of trees between the fences is ideal both
as windbreak and to improve biosecurity.
Vaccination
Some diseases can be prevented, or their effect
minimised, by vaccination. All horses should be
vaccinated against tetanus. Strangles and equine
herpes virus (EHV 4) vaccines are recommended
for certain situations. Consult your veterinarian for
advice. When vaccinating against tetanus,
strangles and equine herpes virus, give
the full vaccination course and regular boosters
as recommended. Always use a new needle and
syringe when giving any injection.
Prevent disease from other species
Hendra virus is a rare but often fatal disease of
horses which can be spread to humans where
it is often fatal. Hendra virus occurs as a ‘spill over’
infection from the virus’s normal wildlife host, the
flying fox (fruit bat). Contact between horses and
flying foxes should be avoided. Avoid placing
horses in a paddock that contains trees attractive
to bats for either feeding or roosting. Horse feed
bins or watering points should not be placed under
trees when there is a risk of bats inhabiting the tree.
If possible, place feed and water containers
under cover.
Investigating and reporting disease
Consultation with a veterinarian is recommended
when any sick horse is identified.
If you notice a high number of sick horses, or
any horse with unusual signs, or a horse
dies with no obvious cause, immediately call
your veterinarian, Qld DPI&F Veterinarian, or
the Emergency Disease Watch Hotline on
1800 675 888. If you think your horse has
Hendra virus, you should have minimal
contact with the horse until Hendra virus has
been eliminated as part of the diagnosis.
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