Maximizing Equine Wellness with a Strong Winter Vaccination Strategy

The fall and winter months are a busy time for most people. With the start of the holiday season and the end of the fiscal calendar, schedules quickly fill up before the conclusion of the year. But for equine professionals, solidifying herd care takes precedence over all else during this time.

It’s important to develop and enact a winter vaccination strategy that protects herds from prominent illnesses and prevents the spread of contagious equine diseases. Cryoport Systems supports the robust management of a vaccination strategy for animal health professionals. By implementing a vaccination schedule, creating a winter checklist, and securing the transport management of vaccines, animal health professionals can ensure that their herd will remain in good condition no matter the time of year.

Implementing a Year-round Vaccination Schedule

With plummeting temperatures and impending freezes, fall and winter can be tough on equine wellbeing. Elizabeth Davis, the head of the College of Veterinary Medicine’s clinical sciences department at Kansas State University, recognizes that the winter months are one of the most impactful times of year for promoting herd health. Specifically, the winter months typically see a rise in herd stress levels, which has a direct link to herd wellness.(1) Vaccinating herds for diseases most prominent in the winter months begins in the spring and extends to booster shots in the fall. These booster shots are extremely important as they help enhance immune response right before extreme cold weather could strike.

Managing the vaccinations of equine herds means implementing a yearly vaccination schedule. The American Association of Equine Practitioners has created a robust guide to properly vaccinating herds of all sizes. This guideline breaks mandatory vaccinations into two categories: core vaccinations and risk-based vaccinations. The core vaccinations include those that “protect from diseases that are endemic to a region, those with potential public health significance, required by law, virulent/highly infectious, and/or those posing a risk of severe disease” whereas risk-based vaccinations include those identified “in a vaccination program after the performance of a risk-benefit analysis.”(2) These categories are the cornerstone of a vaccination schedule and can be used as the baseline for identifying what diseases are risks at what time of year. With this information, a monthly vaccination schedule can be created that’s specific to both region of the world and herd type.

Creating and Following a Winter Checklist

Winter checklists are used to identify and mitigate potential issues that animal professionals could encounter because of the cold. These lists help animal health professionals avoid weather-related problems that affect well-being by tackling areas of concern before they impact the herd. Dr. Elizabeth Davis suggests using the following as a baseline for issues to address and to specify from there.

Outdoor Protection – Identify or create areas to keep horses out of cold, wet, or wind
Water – Stock tank deicer and create twice daily routine to break up frozen water in troughs
Nutrition – Stock good quality forage, brome, or prairie hay and prioritize horses that lose condition in cold weather
Vaccinations – Identify which vaccines require fall boosters and prioritize at beginning of the season

A winter checklist is the best way to keep continued herd health at the forefront of importance. It can be the difference between preparing for a healthy season and having to seek solutions when herd immunity is low.

Cryoport Systems’ Support of Vaccinating Equine Herds

Cryoport Systems’ capabilities are the transport link that connects the lifesaving vaccinations horses depend on year-round to herds across the globe. Our Shipping Systems are the best in class for transporting temperature-sensitive materials, and our management capabilities ensure that time slots schedules are always maintained. When you select us as your chosen provider, you leverage:

Team of Subject Matter Experts – Our trained professionals are versed in all aspects of the life sciences supply chain and have specific knowledge of livestock management practices.
24/7 Monitoring Capabilities – The Cryoportal® logistics management system in conjunction with the Smartpak™ condition monitoring solution provides near real-time insight about a shipment’s internal/ external temperature, location, and other metrics throughout the transport journey.
Ultimate Risk Mitigation – Cryoport Systems’ Chain of Compliance® maintains a complete history of equipment performance and location to mitigate risks and implement preventative measures on every shipment.

We understand the importance of careful planning and a proactive approach in managing equine health. Our dependable professionals, smart technology, and integrative platform create a single-vendor approach to supply chain management that enables healthy herds throughout all seasons.

For more information on how our services and solutions can support your animal health supply chain needs, contact us on our website.

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