Diseases

Preventing and treating disease processes occupies a significant portion of the veterinary team’s day; therefore, understanding relevant details of a specific disease is important for any veterinary technician. Pregnant mares must be vaccinated at specific times so they will produce transferrable antibodies in their colostrum to their offspring. Classifications of disinfectants must be identified to process confinement facilities that may be experiencing disease outbreaks. Clients may need reassurance that specific diseases are self-limiting as they are noninfectious in nature. This chapter presents the common names of large animal diseases in alphabetical order. It provides information on the cause, systems affected, transmission, signs, onset, prevalence/geographical distribution, diagnosis, treatment, recovery, zoonotic potential, genetic prevalence, and prevention of these diseases. The chapter shows species affected by symbols immediately before the disease name.