AAEP updates salmonellosis guidelines to combat silent horse infections and outbreaks

The American Association of Equine Practitioners has revised its salmonellosis guidance to help vets detect subclinical cases, improve management practices, and enhance biosecurity measures amid rising prevalence, especially in horses with gastrointestinal symptoms and at risk groups like foals.

The American Association of Equine Practitioners has updated its salmonellosis guidance as veterinarians face a pathogen that can move quietly through apparently healthy horses before erupting into costly outbreaks. The revision is aimed at improving case recognition, sampling and quarantine practice, with implications for biosecurity, hospital infection control and owner communication across the equine sector.

According to the AAEP, the revised advice focuses on the signs and risk factors most useful in day-to-day practice, including poor hygiene, immunosuppression, stress, mixing of horses and antimicrobial exposure. It also notes that clinically normal animals can shed Salmonella intermittently, while prevalence rises from below 1 per cent in the general horse population to as much as 13 per cent in horses with gastrointestinal disease.

The clinical picture is often unspecific: fever, diarrhoea, leucopenia and colic are common, and serious cases may progress to endotoxaemia and laminitis. Foals are at particular risk, with the association highlighting severe presentations that can include haemorrhagic diarrhoea, pneumonia, meningitis, physitis and septic arthritis.

Brandy Burgess, one of the guideline authors, said the update reflects the latest research and is designed to help field veterinarians manage cases and explain the risks to owners. The AAEP’s Infectious Disease Committee and board of directors reviewed and approved the document, which the association says can be saved as a PDF for use in practice.