Table 2.

Examples of important infection control questions that remain unanswered

Can quarantine reduce the risk of infectious diseases? What are optimal quarantine periods (overall and pathogen‐specific)? What are optimal cleaning and disinfection practices for farms? Does hand hygiene have an impact on equine infections? What is the role of veterinarians, farriers and other personnel in transmission of pathogens, within and between farms? Is/when is screening for pathogens useful for prevention of disease? What should be done in response to identification of a single case of strangles, EHV‐1 abortion, EHV‐1 myelocephalopathy and other diseases on a farm? What are optimal perioperative antimicrobial prophylaxis approaches? What measures can reduce transmission of pathogens at events? What measures (e.g. checking body temperature and excluding horses with fevers) can reduce pathogen transmission at sales? What is the role of the environment in various infectious diseases? What can reduce the incidence of transportation‐associated respiratory infections? Is prophylactic antimicrobial treatment of neonatal foals justifiable?

This article is being made freely available through PubMed Central as part of the COVID-19 public health emergency response. It can be used for unrestricted research re-use and analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source, for the duration of the public health emergency.