Texas Equine Veterinary Association

Page 28 | The Remuda | SPRING 2024 EDITION What is the Biosurveillance Program? Since 2008, Merck Animal Health in collaboration with the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine (UC Davis) has been conducting an ongoing, voluntary equine respiratory biosurveillance program to study the prevalence and epidemiology of relevant viral and bacterial respiratory pathogens. The goals of the program are fourfold: 1) Provide participating veterinarians with a valuable diagnostic tool to assist them in providing an accurate and timely diagnosis so they can treat and manage infectious respiratory disease accordingly. 2) Provide the industry with a better understanding of the prevalence and epidemiology of common respiratory pathogens. 3) Identify and monitor the current circulating strains of major equine respiratory pathogens. 4) Evaluate the efficacy of current vaccination protocols. By partnering with veterinarians to collect nasal swab samples, the program has garnered the largest cumulative equine infectious upper respiratory biosurveillance dataset in the United States and has provided powerful learnings. FIGURE 1: Clinical Signs* of the Top Three Respiratory Pathogens1 *Submission criteria to qualify for the surveillance program include a temperature ≥ 101.5°F The study monitors: Equine herpesvirus types 1 and 4 (EHV-1, EHV-4) Equine influenza virus (EIV) Streptococcus equi subspecies equi (S. equi or strangles) Equine rhinitis A/B viruses (ERAV/ERBV), added to the panel in 2012 Managing infectious disease is one of the most consistent challenges in the equine veterinary profession. With many upper respiratory pathogens sharing the same signature clinical signs (see Figure 1), it's often difficult to diagnose and treat before a disease has run its course, or potentially spread to other horses. The Biosurveillance Program helps participating veterinarians by offering tools to sample horses with clinical signs of upper respiratory disease, allowing them to provide the most accurate and timely diagnosis possible to clients and optimize treatment plans. Once a sample is submitted, the results return to the veterinarian within 24 to 36 hours along with invaluable diagnostic information to help them effectively treat their patient. The quick turnaround time is key in giving veterinarians the best chance to effectively treat patients and manage potential outbreaks. To date, nearly 12,000 samples have been submitted from veterinarians across the United States. Samples come from horses The Merck Animal Health Equine Biosurveillance Program at a Glance

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