J Equine Vet Sci. 2022 Apr 10:103947. doi: 10.1016/j.jevs.2022.103947. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Although equine strangles is reportable in all states, synchronous reporting of this disease does not occur across the country. States have variable regulations on reporting (actionable, notifiable, and monitored) and no mandatory comprehensive databases exist for tracking prevalence. In this study, we solicited veterinarians’ opinions on reporting of strangles and factors influencing their opinion.
SAMPLES: 250 veterinarians practicing within the United States PROCEDURES: A structured survey was administered online.
RESULTS: A total of 250 veterinarians participated: 84 participants (34%) believed that strangles should continue to be nationally monitored and that individual states should have jurisdiction over laboratory confirmed positive cases; 58 (23.2%) believed strangles should become nationally monitored with mandatory notification of positive cases to a central forum; 24 participants (9.6%) thought strangles should become notifiable nationally; and 44 (17.6%) thought strangles should become notifiable and actionable. While not quite achieving statistical significance, we noted that there was a large effect of currently reporting strangles on the desire for increased reporting (87% more likely, P = 0.054), as did veterinarians who ranked strangles as “very important” or “important” relative to other infectious disease (OR 3.77, P = 0.037). Veterinarians practicing in the Southwest (P=0.01) and West (P = 0.04) were significantly less likely than northeast practitioners to rank strangles of higher importance.
CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Opinions on equine strangles and desire for increased reporting were varied in the sampled veterinary community. Information obtained in this study regarding veterinarians’ current views on strangles reporting could inform future policy regarding the disease.
PMID:35417769 | DOI:10.1016/j.jevs.2022.103947
