When it comes to protecting your horse from disease outbreaks, Mom was right. An ounce of prevention is definitely the way to go. Infectious diseases can be devastating to your horse and your pocketbook, but there are steps you can take to protect your horse.
Prevention is a two-fold process.
The first approach is to vaccinate your horse for those diseases for which vaccines are available. Unfortunately, we have vaccines for fewer than a dozen diseases, so vaccination alone won't provide the total answer. Select vaccines based on the likelihood of exposure to the disease and by the type of disease produced. Vaccinate first for diseases that are highly fatal and to which your horse may most likely be exposed. Follow this with vaccination for diseases that are highly contagious even if not highly fatal, especially in horses which are involved in group activities.