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15
EQUINE MATTERS
S T R ANG L E S
Veterinary Nurse
Nina Darling
XLVets Practice
Cliffe Veterinary
Group, Lewes
NURSING
STRANGLES FEATURE...
Nina Darling
Cliffe Veterinary Group
The Strangles case:
Isolation nursing
Isolating your strangles patient at home can be a daunting prospect for any
owner. The responsibility of preventing the spread of a highly contagious,
infectious disease need not be as onerous as it may seem. Effective barrier
or isolation nursing is easy when following simple steps; consider everything
before you start and prepare and maintain a systematic approach to the
care and management of your horse throughout a strangles outbreak.
Firstly, find the easiest place for you to isolate
your horse or pony considering the clinical
signs he has and his temperament. In some
cases a small isolated paddock may be better
than a stable; discuss the issue with your vet.
If you have the option a stable away from the
rest of the yard or on the end of a row with
an empty box between your horse and the
neighbour, is ideal.
The next step is to create a physical isolation
area; this acts as a boundary between clean
and contaminated areas. Outside a stable a
roped off area or gaffer tape line on the floor
works well. Assemble the equipment you need
(remember to keep it simple, you will be the
one cleaning and disinfecting it all!)
Items for the isolated area:
l
Mucking out tools - use bedding sacks
or bin liners for muck
l
Grooming kit and rugs if required
l
Feed and water buckets
l
Items for treating your horse as directed
by your vet
l
Overalls, wellies and a box of gloves
Other items you will need include a dip with
disinfectant (a plastic storage box works well),
hand sanitizer and, if available, a garden
sprayer is very useful. For your dip and garden
sprayer Virkon is the disinfectant of choice as
you can safely use this on buckets and
grooming kit. You can buy Virkon in most tack
shops or direct from your vet. Hand sanitizer is
ideal for use as you leave the isolated area but
is not an alternative to thorough hand washing,
which should be carried out immediately.
Once you have your isolation area in place
maintaining that barrier between your horse
and others around him is down to you. If you
have other non-infected horses to look after
make sure, where possible, the isolated horse
is the one you do last. Before you step over
your barrier into your overalls and wellies
make sure you have everything you need to
treat and manage your horse; having to step
in and out of your area increases the risk of
contaminating the non-isolated area and takes
up your valuable time.
Before you exit your isolated area make sure it
is tidy; contaminated hay and dirty bedding left
on the floor can blow round the yard and
spread infection too. A garden sprayer is great
for disinfecting the stable door and floor area
after sweeping. Remember anything that leaves
the isolation area must be disinfected.
My two considerations during barrier nursing
before I touch anything are, 'where has it been
and where is it going' and, 'where have I been
and where am I going
?
'
Communicating with those around you
and thinking before you do things can make
the difference, and save you a lot of
extra disinfecting!