HBLB Codes of Practice

Each year, the HBLB updates and publishes Codes of Practice on:

• Venereally transmitted bacterial diseases caused by the contagious equine metritis organism CEMO, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa;
• Equine Viral Arteritis (EVA)
• Equine Herpevirus (EHV)
• Equine coital exanthema (ECE)
• Equine Infectious Anaemia (EIA)

In addition, the Codes of Practice include guidelines on Streptoccocus equi (Strangles).

This year the Codes of Practice will, for the first time, include a  code of practice for dourine. This is a serious and often chronic venereally transmitted disease of horses, which is notifiable by law.  There is no proven long term cure for the dourine and no vaccine is available, so establishing freedom from disease is the basis of prevention.  Also new for 2012 is the availability of PCR testing for klebsiella pneumonia and pseudomonas aeruginosa, to complement the PCR testing for CEMO that is already in use.  This means that results may be available within 24 hours from laboratories that offer these tests.

The recommendations within the Codes of Practice are common to France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and the United Kingdom.

The Codes of Practice set out minimum recommendations for the prevention of these diseases and for their control, should they occur. A copy of the 2012 Codes of Practice was sent to all domestic TBA members in December 2011 and is also available on line .

To support the Code of Practice on venereally transmitted bacterial diseases, the HBLB  approves laboratories for the purposes of testing for the CEMO, K. pneumoniae and P. aeruginosa. Please click here for the HBLB Laboratory Approval Scheme, which lists approved laboratories in the UK, Ireland and France.