Biosecurity - is this excessive?

[lrw0250]

Three weeks ago yesterday I collected my daughters new pony from a dealers yard and brought her back to the livery yard where we already have our retired first pony. For biosecurity our field was split with electric fencing to give them each an end of the field with a wide no man's land between them.

We had a two week isolation period for the new pony (during which time the retired Section A ducked under the fence into the buffer zone and resigned herself to isolation too!) followed by a strangles blood test.

Unfortunately this came back on Wednesday past with high results for one strain - 0.7 - so the vets gave the option of waiting to retest or do guttural pouch scope and flush, which I chose as not only are both ponies itching to get out of their quarantine paddocks but daughter is understandably desperate to ride. The earliest vets can do it is this Monday and the yard owner has asked for the escapee pony to be blood tested at the same time in case they touched noses in the short period she was loose.

All the above precautions I understand but I have now been informed by another livery that when they had the same situation, the yard owner made them trailer their horse from their isolation field to the yard as the vets require electricity from the barn to do the scope and wash. In my case that is a distance of approx 500m and no need to go past any other fields. It would also mean me trying to load a fresh pony who has been confined to the field for 3 weeks by myself which I am not confident I can manage safely as when we picked her up she was making to back out before the seller got the breech bar up.

Given the circumstances and the fact that both ponies show no symptoms of any illness over the 3 week period would it be reasonable for me to push back if asked to transport pony for the procedure rather than walk in hand?

 

[AdorableAlice]

The yard made a mistake by allowing the new pony in without a strangles test first, which makes a mockery of their biosecurity plan. You wouldn't be going through all the stress if they had done that. There is no reason you can't walk the pony into an isolation box on the yard for the vet to deal with him. https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/horse-care/vet-advice/strangles-in-horses-305828

 

[lrw0250]

The yard made a mistake by allowing the new pony in without a strangles test first, which makes a mockery of their biosecurity plan. You wouldn't be going through all the stress if they had done that. There is no reason you can't walk the pony into an isolation box on the yard for the vet to deal with him. https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/horse-care/vet-advice/strangles-in-horses-305828

Yards policy is to quarantine for 2 weeks then blood test, no requirement to have a result pre arrival. I suspect the previous person that required the flush was asked to trailer to the yard because the usual isolation field they were in is at the back of beyond and the track passes multiple other fields. Ironically we couldn't put our new arrival in there because it was still occupied by a horse which had also had a positive blood test and was waiting on the flush when our arrival day came round, which meant we ended up in sectioned off areas instead (it's flush was totally clean and accepted as a false positive on bloods)

 

[AdorableAlice]

Yards policy is to quarantine for 2 weeks then blood test, no requirement to have a result pre arrival. I suspect the previous person that required the flush was asked to trailer to the yard because the usual isolation field they were in is at the back of beyond and the track passes multiple other fields. Ironically we couldn't put our new arrival in there because it was still occupied by a horse which had also had a positive blood test and was waiting on the flush when our arrival day came round, which meant we ended up in sectioned off areas instead (it's flush was totally clean and accepted as a false positive on bloods)

A policy that makes no sense to me and doesn't protect the other horses as effectively as testing before arrival would. What a nightmare for you.

 

[teapot]

Absolutely no reason why you can't walk the pony up to the yard.

As AA says, asking for the test be done once the pony is on the yard is backwards beyond any form of common sense regarding you should manage biosecurity.

 

[lrw0250]

Thanks both.

Nothing has been said so I am planing to walk the new pony to the yard this afternoon.

I think I will also ask the vet for their guidance on blood testing the little one who escaped in to the buffer zone. I know the yard owner has requested it but my worry is that the new arrivals flush comes back clear but we get (another) false positive on the little one meaning I have to put her through it too. Surely it would be better to wait on today's flush results first? It has been over 3 weeks now since the new pony arrived and neither show any symptoms of any illness.

 

[Lucky Snowball]

what a nightmare not to mention the costs involved. As others said, the policy should insist on clear test before arrival. Hope it goes well.

 

[khalswitz]

This is backwards.

Blood test before arrival, and if the blood test is positive, either isolate for two weeks or scope.

The whole point is that if they blood test positive but no clinical signs develop within 2 weeks (the incubation period for strangles), then they weren’t infected, they just have antibodies from previous exposure.

 

[lrw0250]

@khalswitz that would be my take on it too. However, I think the yard had an outbreak years ago and it was attributed to the horse catching it during a shared transport load. So since then they have done the isolate for 2 weeks to see if any symptoms develop then blood test regardless to identify potential silent carriers.

 

[lrw0250]

Forgot to add that the scope earlier showed zero signs of infection or chondroids. They have taken the flush sample for testing and I should hear back in a few days.

The vet also advised holding off on doing a blood test on the little one until the flush results are back as she would find it pretty stressful - shes 11hh, 24 years old with a heart murmur and a worrier in general thanks to being rescued as a youngster.

 

[HorsesRule2009]

This is actually the correct way to do it, but most yards don't have decent isolation facilities.
As when blood tested/ GPW Prior to arrival at new yard there's no guarantee that they haven't come into contact with strangles after testing but Prior to moving.

OP I'm glad pony looks visually clear fingers crossed for clear lab results and happy the vets have say not for you to test escape pony.

In all honesty I think testing is slightly pointless as so many people hack/go to clinics/competitions etc so could bring anything back to the yard.
As above most yards don't have decent isolation facilities but I think this is something that should change and the move and isolate properly for 2 or 3 weeks .

 

[khalswitz]

@khalswitz that would be my take on it too. However, I think the yard had an outbreak years ago and it was attributed to the horse catching it during a shared transport load. So since then they have done the isolate for 2 weeks to see if any symptoms develop then blood test regardless to identify potential silent carriers.

Even if they catch it in transport, you’d be better doing the blood test *first* when they arrive, and isolating for two weeks. Isolating for two weeks and *then* doing a blood test just means you need to isolate for another two weeks if it’s positive afterwards - and it is most likely after two weeks of isolation to be an antibody result rather than positive for strangles so it’s really redundant to blood test at that point.

 

[lrw0250]

Well it is now 4 weeks since our new pony arrived at the yard and we are still not out of isolation. The vets on Monday said results of the samples taken would hopefully be back from the lab yesterday but I checked in with them late on yesterday and still nothing. I had to cancel a saddle fitter appointment for today that we made back when we first bought her as it has dragged on so long.

Keeping my fingers crossed for a phone call before the end of the day or we are looking at another weekend of a bored pony and a frustrated 12 year old daughter!