Needle stick injuries occur when you accidentally inject yourself, while aiming for an animal. The most frequent incident occurs when people are vaccinating animals, and they end up injecting their non-dominant hand, often while trying to pinch a tent of skin to vaccinate the animal. Another frequent occurrence is when people are trying to recap needles.

The degree of concern for further injury is related to the product, and the extent to which you inject yourself. Paraffin-based vaccines like Guidar (for Sheep Johnes disease), Silirum (for Cattle Johnes disease), Pilliguard (for Cattle pinkeye), Rotavec (for Calf scours) and Vibriovax (for Cattle vibriosis) cause very serious inflammatory reactions as the body is unable to break down the paraffin base. Just spiking yourself while using the vaccine is unlikely to cause a serious reaction, however if you actually inject yourself, doctors will often recommend immediate surgical drainage.

Vegetable oil based products, like Dectomax injectable, are less irritating if injected and water-based and aluminium adjunct vaccines like 5-in-1 tend to be less irritant and seldom require drainage. Remember, however, that infection can occur due to a variety of other reasons. A very good source of information has been complied by farmerhealth.org.au.

To reduce the chance of vaccinating yourself, never use your non-dominant hand to pinch a tent of skin for vaccination. The use of safe injector guns is also very important, especially when using paraffin based vaccines. It is also not recommended to recap needles after use, but rather dispose of them immediately into a sharps disposal unit.

A broken leg is usually a death sentence for a horse - a horse’s size, anatomy and heavy dependence on four fully functional limbs means that they usually cannot be treated like that of a dog, cat or human with a broken leg. Nevertheless, there are instances where broken legs can be repaired, with some horses even returning to competition.

Such is the case with this promising 4 year old Standardbred mare, who became suddenly lame during fast work, prompting her trainer to call the vet.

The mare was obviously lame in the front left and there was some swelling developing around the pastern and fetlock area. Several diagnostic tests were performed to investigate the cause of the lameness, as there were a number of possible diagnoses. X-rays were taken and showed clearly that the mare had fractured her pastern bone (or P1 bone).

Fractures of the P1 bone may occur in any type of horse used for performance, but more commonly in those that exercise at high speed. The P1 bone may fracture in a variety of ways including: chip fractures along the joint surface, sagittally or "down the middle" (as shown in this case), or comminuted (multiple fragments). The prognosis and treatment options vary depending on the type and extent of the fracture.

In this case, the fracture was able to be repaired by a specialist surgeon with the placement of two large screws across the bone. The screws act to stabilize the break and allow the bone to heal. With several weeks of box rest in a protective cast and bandage, followed by yard rest and a steady rehabilitation process this mare is expected to have a 70-80% chance of returning to racing.

This month, Bloomberg released a publication titled "Pig ebola virus sends shockwaves through global food chain". The article looks into the true extent of African Swine Fever as it moves through China and its bordering countries: Mongolia, Vietnam and Cambodia.

The disease has a very high fatality rate, no effective treatment and no vaccine. This makes quarantine, biosecurity and slaughter the only control method. China is home to 440 million pigs, and the industry is worth $128 billion USD to China. It is forecast that 134 million pigs will be slaughtered to contain the disease. One analyst has said this is an unprecedented situation and ‘will impact food prices globally’.

The contagion is also highlighting the urgent need for government investment in outbreak preparedness, said Amanda Glassman, chief operating officer at the Center for Global Development. China has the 3rd highest per-capita consumption of pork, and their per-capita consumption is triple the global average. Given this, the Chinese will need to import substantial amounts of pork and other meat to satisfy demand. Wholesale prices are already 21 percent higher than a year ago.

African swine fever in China shows that “animal and human disease surveillance systems are not working as well as they should,” and “this should concern everyone given that the potential economic impact of large-scale outbreaks is huge.”

As this situation unfolds, it is a constant reminder of why we need to be diligent with our traceability and biosecurity and to take heart that Australia’s stringent customs controls keep us free of many of these fatal animal diseases.