QUARTERLY BEAT
JULY 2026
What happens when PPE is treated as the whole plan instead of the last line of defense? In this VETgirl article based on her December 9, 2025 webinar, Zoonotic Diseases in Veterinary Medicine: Shifting the Focus from Treatment to Prevention Dr. Katherine Brannick, MS, DACLAM, reframes infection control through a risk-based approach that helps the entire veterinary team reduce biological, chemical, and physical hazards before they reach the PPE stage. Want to learn more? Check out the on-demand webinar HERE ! ZOONOTIC DISEASES IN VETERINARY MEDICINE: SHIFTING THE FOCUS FROM TREATMENT TO PREVENTION Dr. Katherine Brannick, MS, DACLAM WEBINAR HIGHLIGHTS
As veterinary professionals, we carry a higher occupational risk for zoonotic diseases than the general public. We manage that risk every day, often without thinking about it, from putting on gloves before examining an open wound to grabbing a gown on the way to a messy case, or using a mop to clean up that accident in the lobby. These actions are routine, almost reflexive. That familiarity should be reassuring, but here's the thing about familiarity: it breeds complacency. When personal protective equipment (PPE) and sanitation practices become a checkbox, something we do on autopilot rather than as a deliberate risk management strategy, the level of protection quietly diminishes. Most infection control failures in veterinary medicine are not rare or dramatic. They come from common cases handled just slightly incorrectly, over and over again, until something finally slips through. In most cases, those failures are predictable and preventable. Infection prevention and control strategies can be implemented in any setting, small animal, equine, livestock, shelter, or academic, and they are designed to protect everyone: patients, clients, staff, and the broader community. PPE is a critical part of that system, but it is only one part. Effective infection control depends on how we recognize risk, how we structure our workflows, and how consistently we apply standard precautions in everyday practice. This VETgirl article focuses on practical infection prevention with an emphasis on PPE, but the goal is broader than gloves, gowns and masks. Together we will build a framework for risk-based thinking that
supports better decision-making across all aspects of clinical care. This content is written for the entire veterinary team, including credentialed technicians, assistants, kennel staff, client service representatives, and veterinarians, because infection control does not belong to one role. It belongs to all of them.
No one gets this right 100 percent of the time. But getting it right more often starts with understanding what "right" actually looks like.
. PUT PPE BACK WHERE IT BELONGS
If I ask a room full of veterinary professionals, "What's your first line of defense against infection?" the answer I hear most often is some form of PPE. Gloves. Gowns. Masks. It feels intuitive. PPE is tangible, visible, and within our control. But this instinct is where intuition leads us astray. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) hierarchy of controls is widely considered the gold standard for risk management and places PPE as the last line of defense. The controls at the top reduce risk before exposure ever occurs. A strong infection control program does not rely on one layer. It uses multiple layers across the hierarchy so that if one fails, others are still in place. Think of this as the "Swiss cheese model." Every layer has holes, but when you stack them together, those gaps are far less likely to line up and allow something to pass through.
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