As we all hunker down for a few weeks of self-quarantine and social distancing, we want to alleviate any concerns our clients may have as it pertains to the potential transmission of coronavirus between horses and people. While equine and bovine coronavirus has been present in the agricultural industry for quite some time, the disease is of gastrointestinal origin (diarrhea) and is not related the human respiratory virus (pneumonia) currently circulating our continent.
As more research is conducted on this current respiratory coronavirus impacting human patients, it has become clear that the viral particles remain active outside of a human host for up to nine days. This means that if one of your family members has COVID and sneezes directly onto your horse’s neck and you proceed to immediately rub your nose in that site on the horse’s neck, the horse could act as a fomite, thus delivering viral particles to you. Otherwise, your horse is not a carrier of COVID and you cannot transmit the virus back and forth between each other.
Here at MVS, we are still working at full capacity while taking measures to practice social distancing amongst ourselves and our clients. If you are sick or feeling under the weather, please know that our doctors travel with a technician and can complete the appointment in your absence. If you wish to be present, feel free to reschedule your appointment.
If you have any additional questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out to one of the MVS docs. We’re here to help!
