It has now been 24 days since our positive test result and through either good luck or good management (or both) we have had no further “active” cases. Huge thanks to our staff and boarders for their care and diligence!
As mentioned in our prior email, our widespread testing did uncover 3 silent carriers, one of whom lived with our initial positive case (which came first is unknown) but none of the 3 have displayed symptoms and they are not believed to be actively shedding the bacteria as no other horses in their fields have shown symptoms and most have been confirmed negative through testing. The carrier horses are isolated and have received antibiotic treatment to clear any remaining bacteria and ensure that they do not become active cases or shedders in the future.
Make up lessons and Week 1 of camp are underway this week, as cleared by our vet clinic and OMAFRA, with special considerations being made to prevent recurrence or spread of the disease.
Most instructors have now reached out to their riders with information about how they will run their make up lessons and Linda will be running her regular Spring lesson schedule (starting yesterday) until all her lessons are caught up. If you are still unclear about how your missed lessons (from air quality or biosecurity cancellations) will be made up, please let us know asap.
We feel extremely fortunate to have so far avoided a true outbreak, that our active case has been so mild and that her swelling has fully resolved on its own without draining. That said, we must all continue to do our part and make good biosecurity protocols a part of our daily routine.
Looking forward to getting back to a more normal summer ahead!
OOF
Active Biosecurity Protocols – Strangles: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18LJbTB0_9G6YuNoNS3QCJN3zZvGDAizJeMiU8A6TA6Q/edit?usp=sharing
Regular Daily Biosecurity Protocols (When no active disease is known to be present): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1H5sIJPuAptqMk9lsCIieSusIujJD3oRg2KIk7wmy01c/edit?usp=sharing