Human Injuries Associated with the Transport of Horses by Road.

Animals (Basel). May 2023;13(10):.

Christopher B Riley¹, Barbara Padalino², Chris W Rogers³, Kirrilly R Thompson⁴

¹ Department of Clinical Studies, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada.; ² Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agro-Alimentari, Alma Mater Studiorum-Università di Bologna, Viale Fanin 50, 40126 Bologna, Italy.; ³ School of Veterinary Science, Massey University, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand.; ⁴ School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW 2300, Australia.

Abstract

There is an increased understanding of shared human-animal risk in terms of "one welfare", whereby when animals are at risk, so are people, so preventing injury to one species may also prevent injury to the other. Because transport-related injuries to horses are common, the authors considered this paradigm to study road equine transport-related injuries to humans in New Zealand. The aim was to determine their frequency and associated factors by distributing a survey to horse industry participants through industry organisations asking about their horse activities, road transport experiences, and any related self-injury. There were 112/1067 (10.5%) handlers injured while preparing (13/112), loading (39/112), traveling (6/112), or unloading (33/112). Of these, 40% had multiple injury types, and 33% had several body regions affected. Hand injuries were most common (46%), followed by the foot (25%), arm (17%), and head or face (15%). Median recovery time was 7 days. Injuries were associated with the responder's industry educational background, years of driving experience, and reporting a horse injured during road transport in the past two years. Wearing helmets and gloves, and adopting strategies designed to eliminate equine injuries associated with the road transport of horses to reduce the risk of injury to their handlers are recommended.

Keywords

equine; horse; human; injury; one welfare; risk; road; transport; transportation;

Article Tools:

Medline

Email to me

Archives Highlights:

Duration of efficacy and effect of implant location in adult queens treated with a 9.4 mg deslorelin subcutaneous implant.
The average duration of action of the 9.4 mg deslorelin implant was 790 ± 155 days (range 525-1140 days) with no significant difference in duration or efficacy depending on implantation sites. The 9.4 mg deslorelin implant causes pharmacological sterilization for about 2 years in female cats, is fully reversible, and caused no clinically relevant side effects when administered at both interscapular and periumbilical sites.

Prevalence of Encephalitozoon hellem among companion and exhibition birds in Japan.
Although microsporidia can rarely cause severe systemic infections, including hepatitis, nephritis, and enteritis in young birds, most infected birds are subclinical and thought to recover spontaneously after a period of temporary spore shedding if they do not have immunosuppression. Microsporidia can cause self-limiting infection in immunocompetent humans and life-threatening chronic diarrhea in immunocompromised individuals.

Trust in veterinarians and association with vaccine information sources and vaccination status among dog and cat owners.
62.9% of dog and 61.2% of cat owners were classified as trusting their veterinarians. On average, dog owners consulted 2.50 sources about vaccine information; cat owners consulted 2.27 sources. Veterinarians were the most common primary sources of information for 85.4% of dog owners with high levels of trust, but only 62.6% of dog owners with lower levels. This was the case for 83.8% and 56.3% of cat owners.

Nursing care of the small animal oncology patient. Part 2: pet carer support
This article outlines how RVNs can alleviate caregiver burden, facilitate shared decision-making, and provide practical and emotional support throughout the oncology journey.

'Transmission Tracker - Dirofilaria'- a public dashboard to assess in real-time the temperature-bounded transmissibility of canine heartworm across Australia.
'Transmission Tracker - Dirofilaria' processes near real-time temperature records across Australia and allows users to enquire about historical and current weather suitability for canine heartworm transmission at any Australian postcode of their interest. This information allows veterinarians to access when, and for how long, heartworm may be transmitted at a specific location, assess the associated risk of infection, and advise on a patient-dependent dirofilariosis prevention plan for their canine patients and guardians.