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With a highly mobile horse community, keeping your horses free from disease is one of the biggest challenges for horse owners. The fight to keep infectious diseases at bay has taken a step forward with a generous donation from the Equine Foundation of Canada. The funding allows the purchase of new equipment, including a microcentrifuge and fluorometer, for the Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses at the University of Guelph.

"This equipment will help us explore some new areas in equine infectious diseases and hopefully help us understand how to better treat and prevent serious infections. We are grateful for the assistance of the Equine Foundation of Canada in advancing equine infectious disease research.” says Dr. Scott Weese, an equine internal medicine specialist and microbiologist with the Ontario Veterinary College and University of Guelph’s Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses.

The funding for this equipment will help advance the specialized work being done in his lab, and complement the array of equipment that is already present in the laboratory, including a state-of-the-art ‘next generation’ sequencing system. “Our laboratory was the first laboratory of any type in Canada to obtain this system, and it provides a unique capability internationally to perform equine infectious diseases research,” continues Weese.

With increased awareness of the dangers of infectious disease, recently heightened by the news of an equine herpesvirus (EHV-1) fatality in Ontario, this is a timely and welcome development. “Biosecurity, the prevention of disease spread, is an issue of growing concern for the industry. Equine Guelph will be working with Dr. Weese and his staff to get more information out to the horse industry in our communications and education programs. The Equine Foundation of Canada has helped us to move this agenda forward with their funding for new equipment and are to be commended for their initiative to help the Canadian horse industry in this way.” says Gayle Ecker, Director of Equine Guelph. Registration is now open for the new education program “Beat the Bugs: Biosecurity for the Horse Owner” which launches this spring. Members of the equine industry will take away valuable information for themselves and for their employees to help prevent the spread of infectious disease.

For more information about Biosecurity programs offered by Equine Guelph visit: “Biosecurity Risk Calculator”

or contact: Dr. Susan Raymond (slraymon@uoguelph.ca)