by: Pat Raia
November 01 2007, Article # 10737
Equine health specialists are urging horse owners and others who come in frequent contact with horses to wash their hands and clean grooming tools after each use in order to reduce the risk of contracting an antibiotic-resistant strain of Staphylococcus aureus known as MRSA (methicillin-resistant S. aureus). The pathogen–blamed for the recent deaths of two boys–frequently resides in the nasal passages, skin, and intestines of horses. It can be transmitted from horses to humans and vice versa via direct contact or through contact with contaminated grooming or other tools.
“Probably the most important method for transmission from horses to humans or humans to horses is via hand contamination,” said Paul Morley, DVM, PhD, director of biosecurity for the James L. Voss Veterinary Teaching Hospital at Colorado State University. “The most important method of preventing transmission includes washing hands before and after contacting different horses and before you eat, or touch your face.”
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