抄録
For determining surveillance programs or infectious disease countermeasures, risk evaluation approaches have been recently undertaken in animal health. In the present study, to help establish efficient and effective surveillance and countermeasures for equine infectious diseases, we evaluated the potential risk of equine infectious disease transmission in non-race horses from the viewpoints of horse movements and health management practices by conducting a survey of non-race horse holdings. From the survey, the non-race horse population was classified into five sectors based on their purposes; the equestrian sector, the private owner sector, the exhibition sector, the fattening sector and others. Our survey results showed that the equestrian sector and the private owner sector had the largest population size, and movements between and within these sectors occurred quite frequently, while there was little movement in the other sectors. It was qualitatively evaluated that the equestrian and private owner sector had a relatively high risk of equine infectious disease transmission through horse movements. Therefore, it would be effective to concentrate on these two sectors when implementing surveillance or preventative measures. Special priority should be given to the private owner sector because this sector was not implemented inspection and vaccination well compared with the equestrian sector possessing a high compliance rate for these practices. The qualitative risk evaluation focused on horse movements and health management practices could provide a basis for further risk evaluation to establish efficient and effective surveillance and countermeasures for equine infectious diseases.
