In these tough economic times, nearly every horse owner is trying to pinch pennies. When watching your wallet, it’s also important to remember that trimming many veterinary expenses may cost you more in the end.

“Horses can be very expensive animals to own and maintain,” says April Knudson, DVM, manager, Merial Veterinary Services. “So it’s no surprise that, even in a relatively strong economy, horse owners look for the most inexpensive ways to care for their animals. However, the urge to trim costs becomes even stronger in a weak economy. When that happens, horse owners must be extremely careful not to cut back on important equine health care staples – like vaccinations, for example.”

In fact, the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) recommends that all horses be vaccinated against core diseases, including tetanus, Eastern and Western equine encephalomyelitis (EEE/WEE), West Nile virus (WNV) and rabies.1 Other vaccinations may be recommended by a veterinarian based on individual risk if traveling or the disease is a problem for the area. This could include equine influenza and Potomac horse fever (PHF).1

“Annual vaccinations – both for core and additional disease concerns – have long been a staple of equine health care and are the best way to help prevent potentially deadly equine diseases and keep horses healthy,” Dr. Knudson says. “Even though there is some cost up front, vaccinations are the most cost-effective way to control veterinary expenses related to disease treatment later on down the road.”

In fact, supportive care for horses infected with tetanus, EEE, WEE, WNV, PHF or equine influenza can cost thousands of dollars, especially if overnight veterinary care, intravenous feedings or stomach tubes are required. For WNV alone, supportive care can cost up to $3,000 – 45 times more expensive than simply vaccinating the horse for WNV.2

Diseases listed in the AAEP’s core vaccination guidelines, and PHF and equine influenza, are all diseases that could be a concern for every horse, adds Dr. Knudson.

In some cases, horses can’t help but be exposed. For example, tetanus is caused by bacteria from everyday manure, dirt or rust contaminating a puncture wound, and is fatal in at least 50 percent of the cases.3 EEE and WEE, most often known as sleeping sickness, are two of the most common causes of equine encephalitis,4 and are endemic to the United States – making it nearly impossible to completely eliminate risk of exposure.5

“WNV, another core disease concern, has been identified in all areas of the United States and horses represent more than 95 percent of all non-human cases in mammals,”6 Dr. Knudson says. “Finally, rabies is transmitted in the saliva of an infected animal and is 100 percent fatal for horses and almost always fatal for humans.7 In the case of rabies, vaccination not only protects horses, it protects their human handlers.”

While PHF and equine influenza are not included on AAEP’s list of core vaccinations, they are included in the list of risk-based vaccinations.1 Horses that travel or are stabled with others that travel are most at risk for equine influenza, but any horse that comes in contact with infected caddisflies or mayflies can contract PHF.8 What’s more, PHF is a potentially deadly disease that can cause mild depression, anorexia, diarrhea,9 abortion in pregnant mares, toxemia and laminitis.10 Equine influenza is transmitted through infected horses, contaminated inanimate objects and people moving between infected and uninfected horses,11 and is one of the leading causes of respiratory disease in horses.12

“Without vaccinations for these diseases, horses are left vulnerable to debilitating side effects or even death,”3,4,6-12 Dr. Knudson says. “In addition to a sick horse, horse owners may also have to deal with an empty wallet because supportive care for many of these diseases can cost thousands of dollars. When you do the math, it costs so little just to vaccinate horses up front compared with the potential cost after the horse is sick.”

Today’s advanced vaccine technology provides new choices for vaccination and helps protect horses. For instance, the RECOMBITEKR line of equine vaccines includes advanced recombinant canarypox-vectored vaccine technology to aid in the prevention of WNV and equine influenza, in addition to a new combination vaccine featuring recombinant WNV with EEE, WEE and tetanus.

Merial also provides leading equine vaccines such as IMRABR rabies vaccine and POTOMAVACT vaccine for PHF.

RRECOMBITEK and IMRAB are registered trademarks and TPOTOMAVAC is a trademark of Merial Limited. C2010 Merial Limited. Duluth, GA. All rights reserved. EQUIBGN1007 (01/10).

1Guidelines for Vaccination of Horses. American Association of Equine Practitioners. Available at:  http://www.aaep.org/vaccination_guidelines.htm. Accessed December 1, 2009.

2Gardner I, et al. Incidence and effects of West Nile virus infection in vaccinated and unvaccinated horses in California. Vet Res 2007;38(1):109-116.

3MacKay RJ. Tetanus. In: Sellon DC and Long MT, ed. Equine Infectious Diseases. St. Louis, Mo.: Saunders; 2007:376-380.

4Merck Veterinary Manual. Ninth edition. 2005:1027.

5Guidelines for Vaccination of Horses: Eastern/Western equine encephalomyelitis. American Association of Equine Practitioners. Available at:  http://www.aaep.org/tetanus.htm. Accessed July 10, 2009.

6Guidelines for Vaccination of Horses: West Nile virus. American Association of Equine Practitioners. Available at:  http://www.aaep.org/wnv.htm. Accessed February 25, 2008.

7Marteniuk J. Rabies in horses. Michigan State University, College of Veterinary Medicine. Available at:  http://old.cvm.msu.edu/extension/equine/RabiesinHorses.pdf. Accessed January 3, 2009.

8Madigan JE and Pusterla N. Life cycle of Potomac horse fever – implications for diagnosis, treatment and control: a review. AAEP Proceedings 2005;51:158-162.

9Pusterla N and Madigan JE. Neorickettsia risticii. In: Sellon DC and Long MT, ed. Emerging Infectious Diseases. St. Louis, Mo.: Saunders; 2007:357-362.

10Merck Veterinary Manual. Ninth edition. 2005:236-237.

11Influenza updates from the AVMA. Backgrounder: Equine influenza. Available at:  http://www.avma.org/public_health/influenza/equine_bgnd.asp. Accessed January 15, 2009.

12Paillot R, Hannant D, Kydd JH, Daly, JM. Vaccination against equine influenza: Quid novi? Vaccine 2006;24:4047-4061.