Study finds training and audit can cut clinic contamination

A new Journal of Small Animal Practice study reports that veterinary practices can sharply reduce environmental contamination by combining staff education, optimized sanitisation, and routine measurement of hygiene outcomes. In the study, author N. A. Forbes assessed 13 small animal practices using adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, surface testing before and after a structured intervention. Baseline contamination averaged 23.3 times above recommended thresholds, with a 92% failure rate. After a 45-minute training session, a two-step cleaning-and-disinfection protocol, and follow-up unannounced testing, contamination fell by about 66% at the first reassessment and 83.6% by the second. BSAVA’s coverage of the paper said the approach should include an Infection Control Champion and ideally monthly ATP monitoring. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the study adds practice-level evidence that infection prevention can improve with relatively practical changes rather than major facility redesign. That matters because environmental contamination is a recognized reservoir for hospital-associated infections in small animal practice, and veterinary-specific experts have argued that surveillance can serve as an early warning system for infection control failures. The findings also line up with prior research from companion animal clinics in Switzerland, where multimodal infection prevention interventions improved IPC scores and hand hygiene compliance, even if some antimicrobial-resistant contamination persisted in a high-burden clinic. (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

What to watch: Whether more practices adopt routine ATP testing, named infection control leads, and formal audit cycles, and whether future studies link cleaner surfaces directly to lower patient infection rates and reduced antimicrobial-resistant organism spread. (bsava.com)