Damascus Equine Associates, Peter Radue DVM

12/22/2022

Wishing everyone and their horses a safe and warm holiday season, from us at Peter and Edward Radue, DVM

04/06/2020

To our clients,

Depending on evolving circumstances, we are hoping to be able to re-start our health program vaccine appointments in two weeks, on April 20th. We ask that in order to limit the spread of COVID-19, only one person be present at each barn visit. We are also often able to work on the horses with no one present, which would be preferable. This is both to help us limit us spreading the virus ourselves, if we are carrying it without symptoms, and to help keep ourselves healthy and able to see horses in emergency situations.

The Maryland Horse Council has the following recommendations for barn protocol in light of the shelter-in-place order from Governor Hogan.

Thank you, and please stay safe,
Drs. Peter and Edward Radue

On Monday, March 30th, Governor Larry Hogan signed a new executive order instituting a “Stay at Home” directive.
During his press conference, he stated, "No Marylander shall be leaving their home unless it is for an essential job or an essential reason such as obtaining food or medicine, seeking urgent medical attention or for other necessary purposes...essential businesses are directed to scale down operations to reduce the required in-person staff in order to limit in-person interactions and institute telework.”
This new executive order went into effect at 8pm Monday, March 30th. The Governor further stated: “Today’s order states that any person who knowingly or willfully violates the order is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction is subject to imprisonment not to exceed one year or a fine of $5,000 or both.”

We understand that these are difficult, stressful, and confusing times. The Governor has issued two orders recently that directly affect horse businesses and horse people. The first, issued on 3/23, was directed at businesses, and mandated the closure of non-essential businesses. The second, issued 3/30, was directed at individual citizens and mandated that they stay at home except for essential reasons.

Following the issuance of these orders, there was a lot of discussion about what they mean for horse businesses and horse people. The Horse Council has been in constant communication with the MD Department of Agriculture and its MD Horse Industry Board, to try to interpret what these orders mean. The directions we received so far from MDA in these discussions (and - keep in mind that these are subject to change as the pandemic develops) can be summarized as follows: 1) self-care boarding activities are permitted; 2) in general, when horses are in full-care boarding situations, horse owners should not travel to visit, groom, or ride their horses absent a legitimate reason that their horse’s health or safety cannot be secured by the staff at the boarding facility. Owners of boarding facilities have the discretion to decide that, under the current circumstances, additional help is needed to provide basic care for horses, and they can designate individuals to add as temporary “staff.” They can provide those individuals (as well as their regular staff) with letters certifying their right to travel to those jobs.

03/17/2020

Dear Clients,

Due to concerns regarding the spread of COVID-19, we are implementing a number of precautions. The precautions are based on recommendations from the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP), the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), and public health agencies and focus on the principle of social distancing. Our priority is the health and safety of our employees, clients and community so that we can continue to provide uninterrupted routine and emergency care for your horse(s).

* Limit the number of individuals attending an appointment to one owner, farm manager or horse handler whenever possible.
* Reschedule appointments if anyone is exhibiting symptoms of illness that include cough, fever (100.4°F/38°C or higher) and/or shortness of breath, or have traveled to an area of active COVID-19 transmission within the previous two weeks. Access CDC travel information here. (https://raduedvm.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u=10cba97d547c8f88a87d66426&id=fb45a67373&e=288d5e584e)
* Communicate by phone, email or text (including telemedicine) whenever possible.
* Take steps to protect yourself and others (wash your hands with soap and water, use hand sanitizers, avoid shaking hands, practice good respiratory etiquette – cover coughs and sneezes).
* Suspend client education seminars and other group practice events.
* The following resources provide credible guidance regarding COVID-19 in veterinary practice and overall community safety measures:

Include link to relevant area on AAEP website
AVMA COVID-19: What Veterinarians Need to Know (https://raduedvm.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u=10cba97d547c8f88a87d66426&id=9bba4993d1&e=288d5e584e)
AVMA COVID-19: FAQs for Pet Owners (https://raduedvm.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u=10cba97d547c8f88a87d66426&id=841f92489d&e=288d5e584e)
Centers for Disease Control: Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in Communities (https://raduedvm.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u=10cba97d547c8f88a87d66426&id=3cfddf4b44&e=288d5e584e)
World Health Organization (https://raduedvm.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u=10cba97d547c8f88a87d66426&id=5bcad20c8e&e=288d5e584e)

02/25/2020

https://www.ntu.ac.uk/about-us/news/news-articles/2019/12/new-research-on-asthma-in-horses-finds-possible-link-to-latex

Latex has previously been identified as an instigating factor in human respiratory disease. This study showed a significant elevation of antibodies against natural rubber latex in horses with severe equine asthma. It is important to emphasize that this is an early study, and these findings do not prove a definitive cause, but adding footing materials to other environmental considerations may help control our asthmatic patients.

The biggest ever study into the causes of severe equine asthma (sEA) has revealed associations with over 113 substances, including latex found in artificial surfaces.

01/15/2020

Apologies, we won't be able to stream the lecture tonight. If you can't make it, we're happy to discuss the new information the next time we see you!

01/15/2020

If you are unable to attend tonight's talk on PPID, also known as Cushing's disease, please join us for the live stream here!

12/06/2019

12/05/2019

If anyone was interested in tonight's talk but wasn't able to make it, we'll be streaming it here:

Equine Asthma:
“Is my horse just really lazy or having trouble breathing?”

By Dr. Amy Polkes

The video will also be posted afterwards

07/08/2019

For any prescription medication requests, please check out our new pharmacy! Available through this link or on the front page of www.raduedvm.com
https://raduedvm.vetsfirstchoice.com/

06/12/2019

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/evj.13034

The TRH stimulation test has been recently been developed as a more accurate way of diagnosing Equine Cushing's disease than testing the baseline ACTH levels. Although a small sample size, this paper suggests similar accuracy in our donkey patients.

04/16/2019

If you can't make it to Dr. Bain's talk on parasites tonight, please join our live stream here, starting at 7 pm! We will post it to the wall after as well to watch at your leisure.

03/27/2019

Please join us on Tuesday, April 16th for a talk on equine parasites by from Dr. Fairfield Bain!

02/06/2019

We are lucky enough to have Dr. Reuss come speak to us about neurologic disease tonight. If you are unable to attend, we will provide a stream of the talk here, starting at 7:00 pm.

02/02/2019

01/29/2019

https://www.globalvetlink.com/products/eecvi/

Maryland is now accepting the 6-month Extended Equine Certificate of Veterinary Inspection (what we commonly refer to as interstate health certificates). After an initial exam by a veterinarian, the owner will self-report movement and record temperatures before moving on an online form for the duration of the CVI. This will help ease reporting of movement and decrease the barrier of movement to help track disease outbreaks.

EECVI Six-Month Equine Health Certificates Available Now New in 2019, GVL® digital Extended Equine Certificates of Veterinary Inspection (EECVIs) provide a better solution for frequent horse travelers to keep moving and stay compliant. Extended Equine CVIs Health certificate that lasts up to six mo...