During an acute infectious upper respiratory disease outbreak, an accurate and timely diagnosis is critical to ensure proper treatment. It is also extremely important in providing guidance and recommendations about vaccination, management, biosecurity and the potential need for quarantine.
Sick horse in a stall
During an acute infectious upper respiratory disease outbreak in horses, an accurate and timely diagnosis is critical to ensure proper treatment.
© 2017 by Smerikal
The Merck Animal Health Biosurveillance Program offers veterinarians the information and tools to sample horses with clinical signs of upper respiratory disease, so they can provide the most accurate and timely diagnosis possible to their clients.
About the Merck Animal Health Biosurveillance Program
Since 2008, Merck Animal Health has been conducting an ongoing, voluntary equine biosurveillance program to study the prevalence and epidemiology of relevant viral and bacterial respiratory pathogens.
More than 6,000 samples from U.S. equids of numerous ages, genders and breeds presenting with fever and signs of acute upper respiratory disease and/or acute neurological disease have been collected since the study began. Samples are submitted by participating Merck Animal Health customer clinics and tested via quantitative PCR at the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine (UC Davis). To be eligible for testing, horses must have an unexplained fever (T ≥ 101.5°F) AND one or more of the following signs:
- Depression
- Nasal discharge
- Cough
- Acute onset of neurologic disease
The results are then returned to the Merck Animal Health customer within 24 hours and provide invaluable diagnostic and treatment information.
Real-time PCR testing for veterinarians and their clients
The Merck Animal Health Biosurveillance Program provides real-time PCR testing for six major infectious upper respiratory disease pathogens:
- Equine Herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1)
- Equine Herpesvirus-4 (EHV-4)
- Equine Influenza Virus (EIV)
- Streptococcus equi subspecies equi
- Equine Rhinitis A virus (ERAV)
- Equine Rhinitis B virus (ERBV)
Results are provided within 24 hours, allowing equine veterinarians to:
- Provide a timely and accurate diagnosis for their contact
- Prescribe optimal treatment for horses with infectious upper respiratory disease
- Provide important information for making recommendations about vaccination, management and biosecurity during an infectious respiratory disease outbreak-including the potential need for quarantine
- Evaluate the efficacy of the current vaccination protocol
In addition, a bi-annual newsletter is sent as a value-added service to clinics enrolled in the program. It helps veterinarians stay up-to-date on the latest trends and historical information the study has yielded to date. Technical veterinary advice, interpretation and case management support is provided by Merck Equine Veterinary Technical Services and the University of California, Davis.
Press release by Merck