Disinfecting tools

[farriergodmother]

Do you (and if so, what do you use) disinfect tools after working on a horse with WLD?

[Ronald Aalders]

No I do not, however I do desinfect tools when working horses with strangles and have also desinfected tools when we had an outbreak of foor and mouth disease here in Europe. I had a spray handy. A chlorid hexidine solution

I doubt that it would really stop germs from spreading, but it made me feel a little better.


Ronald Aalders

[Thomas_Ride&Drive]

Ronald,

What about when the Foot and Mouth epidemic was on?

I'm presuming a lot of your clients are on farms where there are stock too?

[crazy k horseshoeing]

when i done all my research in to wld we found that the rasp had wld fungi on it so did bedding and the dung heap .what you must realise that it did not get around the world on it own

[hoofinit]

This is a great disinfectant.

http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=30e07e59-7b6a-11d5-a192-00b0d0204ae5

[Ronald Aalders]

Ronald,

What about when the Foot and Mouth epidemic was on?

I'm presuming a lot of your clients are on farms where there are stock too?


Yes that was a problem sometimes because of the travel restrictions. For me it never was like a big problem though. Could get through through all the "road block" pretty ok. They just needed to know I was in the horse business and did not have anything to do with stock.


Ronald Aalders

[Thomas_Ride&Drive]

Here its the norm good protocol for farriers to disenfect tools and equipment after working on a horse with any infective bacteria or disease.

[farriergodmother]

Here its the norm good protocol for farriers to disenfect tools and equipment after working on a horse with any infective bacteria or disease.

So, what would your farrier use if he did encounter such a thing on your farm?

I run into WLD at many of the farms I go to (since I'm a new farrier and feed from the bottom of the pool) and have to be very aggressive about treating it. The Owners that are aggressive get good results, the lazy ones don't. I have on one instance seen it appear in a new account that did not have it on my first visit. The two horses had been on the same property for several years without leaving. It was a good six months into my service until it appeared. Maybe it was me that brought it to the account, maybe it came in on the vet that has worked on the Cushings horse there. I don't like thinking it was me and I'd like to be more certain I can prevent it from happening.

[crazy k horseshoeing]

you hit the nail on the head.done the same myself your right might not be you could be the owner no answer you can only do what you feel is right.if you stay on top wld you can win but you cant stop the spread and once you have it in a barn your stuffed

[Thomas_Ride&Drive]

So, what would your farrier use if he did encounter such a thing on your farm?

I can safely say he wouldn't encounter it here.

And Virkon is what I use for bio-security disenfectant

[Hoof Doc]

I use Nolvasan Solution pretty regularly to disenfect tools, its pratically what its made for and works well.:cool:

[reillyshoe]

I do not disinfect tools after working on WLD since the combination of bacteria and fungus found in those feet are present on other healthy feet, but I do disinfect tools regularly with Virkon.

Does anyone disinfect their apron? If so, how? When I work in isolated portions of the hospital, I wear a XXXL Tyvek suit over my apron.

[Western Hill Forge]

Hi Patrick,

I have used alcohol to disinfect my apron in the past, after working in a strangles infected barn, then used neatsfoot oil ( sprayed on ) to resoften it.

I used Nolvasan to soak the tools.

Last week at the AFA convention one of the speakers was Dr Danial Burba, on biosecurity. He said alcohol was one of the most effective disinfectants, but it took a few minutes to kill all the nasties. He recommended Lysol ( among other things ) for aprons and tools. Another handy suggestion was to use Redi-Wipes, which contain ammonium chloride, for non porous surfaces

[mwmyersdvm]

I can't imagine why a 'doctor' would recommend alcohol as a disinfectant. it is not approved as a disinfectant for any purpose. It is a good grease remover and that is all it is used for in the medical and veterinary profession. Disinfecting a leather apron is unlikely. It would be advisable to clean it well, but you cannot get much in the way of disinfection on such a porous material.

The most common problem I see with "white line disease" is an improperly trimmed hoof. Most of the time a good trim sends it on its way. Deep cases may require some resection and clean up, but I don't have to deal with too many of these. While there has been some conjecture of a causative organism, it is more likely that the devitalized hoof is providing a great growth medium for a variety of opportunist organisms.

[Thomas_Ride&Drive]

Last week at the AFA convention one of the speakers was Dr Danial Burba, on biosecurity. He said alcohol was one of the most effective disinfectants, but it took a few minutes to kill all the nasties. He recommended Lysol ( among other things ) for aprons and tools. Another handy suggestion was to use Redi-Wipes, which contain ammonium chloride, for non porous surfaces Alcohol??? Now you can get alcohol rubs that are also anti-bacterial. And you can also get alcohol based disenfectants. Are you sure that isn't what he meant?

I used gazillions :rolleyes: of those when I was Neutropenic.

However the disenfectant of choice for strangles is virkon.

[calshoer]

If the whiteline disease organisms could be spread on my tools, then every horse I ever trimmed or shod would have contracted WLD from the few that had it. Yet it did not spread to my other clients. Nuff said. ;)

And I do not knowingly work on horses or in barns infected with strangles.

[Western Hill Forge]

"I can't imagine why a 'doctor' would recommend alcohol as a disinfectant. it is not approved as a disinfectant for any purpose." - mwmyersdvm

The 'doctor' in question is a Professor of Equine Surgery at LSU School of veterinary medicine, and a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons. He has other credentials, but those were good enough for me. Our local vet had also suggested alcohol for thet apron. But Dr. Burba made the point that the alcohol was of of the best disinfectants, but it took a few minutes, so a simple wipe down wouldn't do it. I have this in my notes, so I'm sure I'm not mis-remembering it.

I guess opinions vary. It's good to know Vets can disagree as well as farriers. :)

[mwmyersdvm]

I can appreciate your review of his credentials, but if he truly said this, he is incorrect. I consult for an FDA approved research laboratory (for over twenty years), so I am considerably more aware of disinfectants than surgeons, internists, or other medical professionals. Most livestock veterinarians have much more training in correct disinfection than do surgeons as your food health depends on it, not just a few hundred surgical cases. If you will note, I stated that no straight alcohol product is labeled as a disinfectant and this is a fact, so to use it as such could cause some serious repercussions if there is a 'break', an infection occurs, and a client wants to dispute it in a court of law. The client will easily win this one.

For some additional information, no veterinary clinic uses alcohol as a disinfectant as it is not approved as such.

Since the young Dr. Burba is teaching at my alma mater, I will shoot him an email and see if he made this statement. I graduated from the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine in 1978.

[Western Hill Forge]

Thanks for the reply. Please post the info you get after talking to Dr Burba. He was discussing ways to disinfect farrier tools, not vet clinics, but I would really appreciate knowing if alcohol is not a good idea, as Lysol is also readily available and easy to spray on porous materials like aprons, just a bit more expensive.

What would your suggestion be for aprons?

[Rick Talbert]

I do not disinfect my tools after working on these horses with WLD. My understanding is that the bacteria is anaerobic, whatever microscopic particles may be clinging to my tool stands little chance of surviving the journey to the next barn and even if it did, the chances of it "taking hold" in a healthy hoof would be next to impossible. The rasp takes away any evidence that would be left by the nippers, and the nature of the rasp is it does not giveth but taketh away, so I doubt the rasp leaves any potential amount of infectious contaminent either. If I'm wrong I'd love to see real evidence of it. I think one would stand a better shot at getting aids from a toilet seat or get pregnant in a hot tub.

[Western Hill Forge]

And I do not knowingly work on horses or in barns infected with strangles.


Hi Patty. I hope you you never have to unknowingly work on a horse with strangles. In this case I was made aware by the barn owner and attending vet, and the horses were due, and one had developed a minor hoof problem.

If you do have to work in this situation, the attending vet should give you a protocol to follow.

In this case it wasn't that difficult:
Made it my last stop of the day.
Kept it simple - trims only - to minimize equipment used.
Wear rubber boots and disinfect before leaving the property.
Change cloths before leaving the property, bag them and wash them in bleach.
Disinfect tools before leaving the property. I used Nolvasan (sp) that the vet gave me to mix up.

This seemed to work as there were no more strangles infections, as far as we knew, in this area.

The big question was what to do with the apron, as per Patricks question.
I saturated it with 70% aclohol, dried it in the sun, repeated, and used my other one for a couple of months. I then sprayed it with Neatsfoot oil to soften it and have been using it since. This may not have been the best answer. I'm hoping someone can give us a better one.

[mwmyersdvm]

Thanks for the reply. Please post the info you get after talking to Dr Burba. He was discussing ways to disinfect farrier tools, not vet clinics, but I would really appreciate knowing if alcohol is not a good idea, as Lysol is also readily available and easy to spray on porous materials like aprons, just a bit more expensive.

What would your suggestion be for aprons?

I spoke to Dr. Burba. His lecture referenced a study where alcohol was a good hand disinfectant, not a hard surface disinfectant. He recommends chlorhexidine for instruments or other approved hard surface disinfectant and possibly Lysol for the apron, but the apron will be difficult to disinfect. Getting it as clean as possible would probably be the best that can be done.

[Gary Hill]

What about good ole Rocal D?

[mwmyersdvm]

Roccal D still works as a good hard surface disinfectant. Chlorhexidine is less irritating to skin and mucous membranes in case you get too much on you and I'm not sure of the cost and availability.

[Western Hill Forge]

Dr Myers,

Thanks so much for the follow-up with Dr. Burba and clarification. If in your contact with other professionals you have one of those "AHA!" moments regarding better ways of disinfection an apron, it would valuable knowledge for all of us. Again, I appreciate your taking the extra time and initiative.