Re: RC: West Nile Virus and EPM vaccine questions

[DESERTRYDR1@aol.com]

To answer your last question,  Indiscriminate feeding of antibiotics is 
causing many strains of bacteria to become resistant to them.  Some "snots" 
and "coughs" are caused by viruses, which antibiotics have NO effect on.  
Some antibiotics are "broad spectrum" which means they are effective against 
many different types of bacteria, others are most effective against specific 
types of bacteria, like gram negative bacteria.  If a person is feeding 
antibiotics for a sniffle, they may quit feeding them when the symptoms 
disappear.  Most antibiotics require a specific course (ten days or whatever) 
to completely eradicate the bacteria.  If given for a shorter period of time, 
 the surviving bacteria may become resistant to that antibiotic.  A course of 
antibiotics should never be started without advice from a vet or other 
knowledgeable person about which specific antibiotic to give and for how 
long.  The best way is to culture the bacteria, and then run a sensitivity 
screen to see which antibiotic will be most effective.

We risk the evolution of "Superbacteria" that can't be killed by the 
currently available medications.  Then we are right back a hundred years, 
where people and animals died from a simple cut.  It is already happening. 
There are resistant strains of staph and many other bacteria.  This is one of 
my pet peeves.  You don't just risk your horse's health by using antibiotics 
without a doctor's advice, you risk your own health, and mine, and everyone 
else's.   jeri