As part of an infection prevention protocol, it’s vital that veterinary hospitals implement strategies that improve the safety of indoor air.

Clean air is a basic requirement of life and the quality of indoor air, where people and pets, spend a large part of their life is an essential determinant of health and well-being.¹ A debate is ongoing as to whether indoor air should be treated the same way as drinking water, from the decontamination point of view.² In any given setting, one may choose not to drink the water or eat the food that is available but generally has little choice in breathing the same air as everyone else. This makes air an environmental equalizer, conferring on it the unique potential to disperse evenly whatever it may contain, and infectious agents entering indoor air can mix rapidly with no perceptible color or smell.³

This highlights the importance for improving the indoor air quality and reducing the exposure to pollutants and pathogens.⁴ Indoor air quality has come to the forefront during the pandemic caused by an airborne pathogen and people adapting to a “new normal”. Veterinary companion animal medicine shifted to curb-side service in order to improve their team’s safety and maintain essential veterinary services.

The goal of creating a healthy indoor environment is nebulous, because individuals respond differently to different exposures and there is a lack of clear consensus as to what constitutes a healthy indoor environment and what measurable metric can be used to assess indoor air.⁵ Ideally multiple strategies, such as ventilation, filtration and decontamination, will need to be combined in a layered approach with other routine infections prevention measures with the end goal of making indoor spaces safer. Additionally, each building presents a unique and time-varying challenge and opportunity to improve the health of its occupants.

AIRBORNE PATHOGENS

Buildings have been associated with infectious diseases outbreaks in humans and animals, such as COVID-19 or influenza, and the time people or animals remain indoors in close contact is a main contributor for contagion.⁶ Sources for indoor microbes are: aerosols from people and animals, pathogens aerosolization from biofilm and resuspension of dust.^3,6,7 In human hospitals, pathogens such as Acinetobacter baumannii, noroviruses, and Clostridium difficile responsible for health care associated infections can spread via aerosol.^7,8 Furthermore, airborne pathogens can settle on surfaces, which in turn become secondary vehicles for transmission. ⁸ Canine and feline viral respiratory disease, spread via aerosols, being a prevalent problem in shelters, boarding facilities and veterinary hospitals.⁹

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