The time-worn adage is, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” said by none other than the esteemed Dr. Benjamin Franklin. And while Dr. Franklin undoubtedly was thinking in the right direction, the adage doesn’t necessarily multiply well. That is, a pound of prevention is not necessarily worth 16 pounds of cure (and so on – an ounce is 1/16 of a pound, if you want to check the math). However, more preventive medicine is not necessarily better preventive medicine: and it can be really expensive.
There are more than just a few things that you can allegedly prevent, at least if you’re one of
Yes, nose problems.
Still, when it comes to preventive medicine, there are two important facts.
- You can’t prevent everything.
- If you try to prevent everything, you’ll go broke. This assumes that you’re not a billionaire, of course. However, even if you are a billionaire, see fact #1.
To a certain extent, preventive stuff may help prevent some anxiety in some folks, but that’s another thing entirely. In such cases, that discussion gets into questions like, “What, exactly, are you trying to prevent?” and, “In whom are you trying to prevent stuff anyway?”
- RULE #1 – Use products or services that have been shown to be effective by some objective means (e.g., a good scientific study). As much as you cherish the opinion of best friend’s Uncle Al who grew up around horses 40 years ago, you really do want to look for some sort of objective measurement behind preventive products.
- RULE #2 – Use products or services that contain what they say they contain
- RULE #3 – Don’t use preventive medicine unless you need to use the medicine
- RULE #4 – Consider effective things you can do that don’t need medicine
With that intro, and with the fact that one article addressing everything that you might want to prevent might end up being a long novel, let’s start by looking at vaccines.
PREVENTING INFECTIOUS DISEASES BY VACCINATION
There are four main ways that horses can get an infectious disease:
- Horse to horse spread (think kids in school),
- Contact with an infectious agent in the environment (e.g., nasal discharge smeared on a watering trough by a sick horse, or on your shirt sleeve),
- By introduction from objects (e,g., tetanus)
- From living carriers (e.g., mosquitoes) that infect horses with diseases such as West Nile Virus, or one of a variety of viral encephalitis conditions. Of course, other insects cause horses problems, too, especially ticks, and a whole host of flies. Oh, and don’t forget about the various mammals that can transmit rabies (in some areas). It’s always something.
Since vaccination is a commonly prescribed tool for preventing infectious diseases, let’s see how the four rules apply.
RULE #1 – Use products or services that have been shown to be effective
Rabies vaccination is effective, and it probably lasts more than one year, but in the United States, it’s use is generally mandated by government authorities in areas where rabies is a problem. You should follow the rules in your area, of course.
On the other hand, quite a number of equine vaccines are most likely NOT very effective when it comes to preventing diseases. The strangles vaccine in particular does not seem to be very effective; so much not so that it’s pretty much only used in one country in the world (the US). Other vaccines that do not seem to be particularly effective at preventing diseases, or that we really don’t know if they prevent diseases include:
- Herpes virus vaccine (there’s no vaccine that prevents the neurologic form of herpes virus, by the way)
- Potomac Horse Fever vaccine (it only vaccinates against a couple of last-I-saw nine or so strains of the disease
- Lyme Disease – there’s no horse vaccine. Because Lyme Disease is a real problem in some areas, and because people want to try to prevent their horses from getting it, some horses get vaccinated with a vaccine created for dogs. How well it works is anyone’s guess at this point.
Other vaccines include African Horse Sickness and Botulism, but those are very specific concerns limited to a few areas, and this article is going to be too long already.
Effectiveness notwithstanding, vaccination intervals are often determined by outside agencies. So, for example, if you have a horse that competes in United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) or Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) events, you may have vaccinate your horse every six months, as required by those agencies (or they have to demonstrate a good reason why not). They make the rules and you have to play by them (if you want to play).
RULE #2 – Use products or services that contain what they say they contain
When it comes to other things used to try to immunize animals, e.g., homeopathic nosodes, you’re completely out on a limb that’s not attached to a tree. In my opinion, if you’re going to vaccinate your horse, use an effective product. Don’t bother with demonstrably ineffective things that simply provide a false sense of security.
RULE #3 – Don’t use preventive medicine unless you need to use the medicine
Ditto with horses that aren’t exposed to other horses much. If the horse population is stable – the horse doesn’t travel, and doesn’t have new horses coming in and out of the property where he lives – it’s pretty unlikely that he will contract a contagious disease from another horse. As such, vaccines such as influenza or herpes virus may not be very important at all.
RULE #4 – Consider effective things you can do that don’t need medicine
One of the things about the horse world that really bothers me is that many preventive measures seem to be some sort of a shortcut to avoid doing things that may even be more effective. The fact is, there are lots and lots of things that you can do to help prevent lots and lots of problems that don’t have anything to do with giving your horse some shot, powder, pill, or potion. When it comes to preventing infectious diseases, a lot of those things are at least as important as any sort of vaccine.
- Cleanliness for you. When moving between horses, and especially when moving between horses with infectious diseases, wash your hands, change your clothes, clean off your shoes, etc. Don’t be part of the problem.
- Objects can spread disease (the medical term is “fomite”). Try not to share brushes, blankets, tack, etc., between horses. If you do share, then disinfect those things between horses.
- Quarantine new arrivals. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen horses get sick after a new horse arrives in the barn. Quarantining new arrivals for 3 – 4 weeks prior to introducing them to a herd is a great way to protect the herd, and it’s far more important than making sure horses have recent vaccinations. In some areas, e.g., where strangles is endemic, I’ve even heard of requirements for horses testing negative for the disease prior to coming onto the property: which isn’t a bad idea, actually.
SUMMING IT UP