Brandy Burgess, DVM, MSc, PhD, DACVIM, DACVPM

Veterinary hospitals, by their very nature, create a high risk environment for the transmission of infections agents bringing together animals from many different farms with varying levels of compromise.

Salmonella enterica is commonly associated with epidemic disease in veterinary hospitals and on-farm environmental contamination [1; 2].

Epidemics of healthcare-associated infections in veterinary teaching hospitals are commonly attributed to Salmonella enterica [1].

Disease epidemics can progress slowly, affecting only a few animals, or they can progress very rapidly affecting many animals in a wide geographic region, as was seen in the equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) outbreak in 2011 in the western U.S. and Canada.

In the era of evidence-based medicine or the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients [1] it is critical that practitioners have a strong epidemiological foundation upon which clinical experience and best available external evidence can be integrated.

Diagnostic testing is an integral part of the practice of veterinary medicine but are all test results equal?

Veterinary hospitals, by their very nature, create a high risk environment for the transmission of infections agents bringing together animals from many different farms with varying levels of compromise. Outbreaks of healthcare-associated infections commonly occur in veterinary hospitals with 82% of American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) accredited veterinary teaching hospitals (VTHs) reporting such events within the previous 5 years [1].

Veterinarians must take appropriate precautions to mitigate the risk of infectious disease in patients and hospital personnel.