Equine Ownership

SCRUB Up! Teaching Youth (and Adults) About Biosecurity

A presentation at the ISES conference outlined a free online curriculum to help young horsepeople better understand biosecurity measures.

A young girl letting a horse sniff her hand.

It's never too early to start teaching kids about how disease spreads from horse to horse, and how to prevent it. (superelaks - stock.adobe.com)

By: Horse Sport staff | October 28, 2024

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you're listening to an article from horse sport.com. scrub up! teaching youth (and adults) about biosecurity by: horse sport staff. the presentation “teaching horse owners about disease transfer and prevention” at the international society for equitation science conference entitled “a good life for horses” presented by ises in new zealand in march stressed that physical needs must be met with adequate protections in place to prevent diseases on the farm. deborah reed, renee carstens, deidre avery, kris hiney and elizabeth greene of the university of arizona talked about the science creates real understanding of biosecurity (scrub) curriculum that was created to provide hands-on activities to teach horse owners about biosecurity, especially those that travel or come in contact with new animals. scrub was originally developed for 10-18-year-old youth, but has also been effectively incorporated into workshops for adult recreational and professional horse industry members. scrub includes 4 modules with activities addressing concepts of disease transfer and prevention methods:. advertisement scroll to continue with content module 1 focuses on cleaning and disinfecting, beginning with hand-washing effectiveness, then challenging participants to clean typical barn surfaces. module 2 explores direct/indirect disease transfer incorporating a simple, but powerful activity demonstrating the speed of disease transfer between animals, and introduces zoonosis, fomites, and vector concepts. module 3 addresses types and effectiveness of vaccinations, stressing the need for proper handling and storage using a cooler building activity. module 4 incorporates previous lessons by identifying and creating strategies to prevent disease transmission in a horse facility. in the spring of 2023, a pilot project evaluated pairs of 4th grade students (9-10 years old) answering two\ questions: 1. what does biosecurity mean? 2. how can animals pass an illness to another? before and after a scrub hands-on lesson. of the 75 completed surveys, 85% of paired students surveyed showed an improved ability to define biosecurity at the end of the lesson. most student’s responses changed from “don’t know” before the lesson to variations of “to prevent sickness” or “to not spread diseases” following the lesson. additionally, even where the pre-response was correct (19%), the post-response was correct but different (39%), providing some additional detail or adding the term “vector”. as a result, 63% of student pairs surveyed improved their ability to describe how animals can pass illness following the scrub lesson. the scrub curriculum is available at no cost online and provides an “easy-to-consume” way for youth and adults to learn and implement these fundamental concepts. it provides all the information needed for any instructor (with or without prior biosecurity and animal knowledge) to conduct the lessons. by educating horse owners on disease transfer, disease spread potential can be decreased, thus increasing the ability to provide a good life for all horses. ~with files from international society for equitation science. &&>

The presentation “Teaching Horse Owners About Disease Transfer and Prevention” at the International Society for Equitation Science conference entitled “A Good Life for Horses” presented by ISES in New Zealand in March stressed that physical needs must be met with adequate protections in place to prevent diseases on the farm.

Deborah Reed, Renee Carstens, Deidre Avery, Kris Hiney and Elizabeth Greene of the University of Arizona talked about the Science Creates Real Understanding of Biosecurity (SCRUB) curriculum that was created to provide hands-on activities to teach horse owners about biosecurity, especially those that travel or come in contact with new animals.

SCRUB was originally developed for 10-18-year-old youth, but has also been effectively incorporated into workshops for adult recreational and professional horse industry members. SCRUB includes 4 modules with activities addressing concepts of disease transfer and prevention methods:

Scroll to continue with content

Module 1 focuses on cleaning and disinfecting, beginning with hand-washing effectiveness, then challenging participants to clean typical barn surfaces.
Module 2 explores direct/indirect disease transfer incorporating a simple, but powerful activity demonstrating the speed of disease transfer between animals, and introduces zoonosis, fomites, and vector concepts.
Module 3 addresses types and effectiveness of vaccinations, stressing the need for proper handling and storage using a cooler building activity.
Module 4 incorporates previous lessons by identifying and creating strategies to prevent disease transmission in a horse facility.

In the spring of 2023, a pilot project evaluated pairs of 4th grade students (9-10 years old) answering two\ questions:
1. What does biosecurity mean?
2. How can animals pass an illness to another?

before and after a SCRUB hands-on lesson. Of the 75 completed surveys, 85% of paired students surveyed showed an improved ability to define biosecurity at the end of the lesson. Most student’s responses changed from “don’t know” before the lesson to variations of “to prevent sickness” or “to not spread diseases” following the lesson. Additionally, even where the pre-response was correct (19%), the post-response was correct but different (39%), providing some additional detail or adding the term “vector”. As a result, 63% of student pairs surveyed improved their ability to describe how animals can pass illness following the SCRUB lesson.

The SCRUB curriculum is available at no cost online and provides an “easy-to-consume” way for youth and adults to learn and implement these fundamental concepts. It provides all the information needed for any instructor (with or without prior biosecurity and animal knowledge) to conduct the lessons. By educating horse owners on disease transfer, disease spread potential can be decreased, thus increasing the ability to provide a good life for all horses.

~with files from International Society for Equitation Science