Equine disease surveillance: quarterly summary.

This is a summary of a quarterly report on diseases affecting horses in the UK, produced by Defra, AHT, and BEVA. It compiles data from various diagnostic labs and vet practices, but cautions that these figures may not show the true disease frequency due to testing variables.

Compilation and Analysis

• The report is the outcome of a concerted effort by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Animal Health Trust (AHT), and the British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA).
• The full version of the report, spanning July to September 2017, also includes an expansive list of all laboratories that contributed data to this report.

Data Collection

• The data highlighted in the report were collected from several diagnostic laboratories and veterinary practices throughout the UK. These diverse sources of data provide a robust sample size for the study but also introduce variables that need to be taken into account during analysis.
• Some of the influencing factors include the attitudes of the horse owners towards disease testing, potential financial constraints that may limit the extent of the testing, and the purpose of sample submission, which could be routine health screening or a focused clinical investigation.

Interpretation of data

• Given the range of variables involved in the data collection process, the report stipulates that interpretation of the data should be handled with caution. The authors also acknowledge that there may be some bias in the way samples are submitted for laboratory testing.
• Due to these potential biases and constraints, the data may not imply a true reflection of the frequency of equine diseases within the larger horse population in the UK.