AAEP Issues Field Diagnostic Guidelines for Equine Acute Infectious Diarrhea

The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) has published on its website Field Diagnostic Guidelines for Equine Acute Infectious Diarrhea. The guidelines serve to assist practitioners in developing differential diagnoses for cases of acute diarrhea of unknown cause in both adult horses and foals as well as diagnostic strategies for suspected cases of infectious equine diarrhea.

While equine diarrhea can occur secondary to non-communicable causes, it is often a result of infectious agents that are contagious and/or zoonotic, such as Equine Coronavirus, Equine Rotavirus, Salmonella spp. and Clostridioides difficile, warranting implementation of biosecurity protocols. Indications of underlying infectious disease associated with acute diarrhea in horses that should prompt initiation of biosecurity measures and establishment of an on-premises quarantine include multiple febrile animals—with or without concurrent respiratory or neurologic signs—or one or more horses with acute gastrointestinal abnormalities and fever.

The diagnostic flowchart contained within these guidelines will help practitioners navigate their differential list, sample collection and diagnostic test selection to achieve a definitive diagnosis.

“Our goal is to provide practitioners with comprehensive and accessible resources to ease diagnostic selection and increase the diagnosis of equine infectious disease,” said Toby L. Pinn-Woodcock, DVM, DACVIM, chair of the AAEP Field Guidelines Subcommittee and assistant clinical professor, Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine.

Authored collaboratively by the members of the Field Guidelines Subcommittee, the Field Diagnostic Guidelines for Equine Acute Infectious Diarrhea were reviewed and approved by the AAEP Infectious Disease Committee and board of directors. View the guidelines or save them to your mobile device at https://aaep.org/resource/equine-acute-infectious-diarrhea-field-diagnostic-guidelines.

This is the second set of Field Diagnostic Guidelines published by the AAEP and follows last year’s issuance of similar step-by-step protocols for Infectious Neurologic Disease, which are accessible at https://aaep.org/guidelines-resources/field-diagnostic-guidelines. In addition to the Field Diagnostic Guidelines, AAEP guidelines for more than 30 equine infectious diseases and foreign animal diseases are accessible through the AAEP Guidelines Library at https://aaep.org/guidelines-resources/resource-library/guidelines-library.

About AAEP

The American Association of Equine Practitioners, headquartered in Lexington, Ky., was founded in 1954 as a non-profit organization dedicated to the health and welfare of the horse. Currently, AAEP reaches more than 5 million horse owners through its over 9,000 members