EIA cases in West/Southwest

[Demerara_Stables]

Before I get into the main topic, a general PSA for equine infectious diseases: if you own a horse or spend time at equine facilities, you should sign up for daily alerts from EDCC. They send out a daily email around 5pm Eastern with updates by state/county on known cases of infectious diseases and summaries on new cases. This is their alerts page: https://equinediseasecc.org/alerts and if you scroll to the bottom you can sign up for alerts.

Does anyone have any thoughts on why we’ve been seeing such a crazy amount of EIA cases in the West/Southwest lately? I saw something a couple of weeks ago that it was being spread by people (instead of insects which I believe is the normal vector), but I can’t remember where I saw it.

Two separate cases, both texts from the page I linked above:

The previous three (3) horses that were in quarantine for close exposure on the Orange County premises were re-tested and confirmed positive for EIA. During our ongoing investigation into this case an additional thirty-six (36) potentially exposed horses on the premises, all within the same training group, were tested and two (2) horses in this group were confirmed positive for EIA. A confirmed EIA positive equid must be euthanized or quarantined for life 200 yards away from any EIA negative equid as per USDA EIA program rules. Euthanasia was elected for these five (5) confirmed cases and witnessed on October 16th by CDFA veterinarians. This brings the total number of positives in this cohort to twelve (12) horses in California. Close contact horses to the affected cases deemed potentially exposed, will remain under quarantine until their sixty (60) day retest samples are completed as per CDFA and USDA program requirements.

On September 20th and 24th, the National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) confirmed equine infectious anemia (EIA)-positive results in 4 Quarter Horse racehorses that were part of a group recently moved from racing in New Mexico to Los Alamitos in California. Several of the EIA-positive horses were showing clinical signs of EIA upon arrival to California. Testing of in-contact horses in California and epidemiologically-linked horses in Texas and New Mexico has yielded an additional 18 EIA-positive horses to date. All 22 EIA-positive horses (12 in CA, 2 in NM, 8 in TX) were racing under the same trainer and attending the same series of sanctioned races in New Mexico in August and September. Additional exposed horses have been identified and are in the process of being tested in multiple states. The current epidemiological investigation indicates that spread of EIA among these horses occurred by iatrogenic transmission. Twenty (20) of the 22 EIA-positive horses have been euthanized, 1 horse remains quarantined in New Mexico, and 1 horse died of the disease. Updates to the current situation will be posted as more information becomes available.

It was a shock to me coming to CA from FL that we don’t require Coggins tests here - that’s pretty much beaten into our heads in FL. Maybe that will become the norm with these new cases? Anyone have any insight on the spread?

[ThreeWishes]

There is already a thread on this. Let me find it.

[ThreeWishes]

16 Horses Now Positive For EIA

https://paulickreport.com/horse-care-category/heath-taylor-absolutely-devastated-total-of-16-quarter-horses-now-positive-for-equine-infectious-anemia

[NaturallyHappy]

Oh my gosh….For some reason, I thought Coggins were required everywhere. I won’t let a horse in my barn without one.

[Demerara_Stables]

Oh thank you!! I’m never on the racing forum. Can I close this one or does a mod have to do it? @Moderator_1

[Demerara_Stables]

Yeah, definitely a very common required thing in Florida and I would imagine the East Coast in general. Not required anywhere in California that I know of. The only cases I had ever heard of in Florida was one barn where all of the horses were quarantined for life so I just assumed it wasn’t a thing here.

[ThreeWishes]

You’re welcome! Not sure about closing a thread but if yours takes on a different path like not needing coggins in certain states perhaps it would be beneficial!

[Laurierace]

All those horses had a negative coggins. The transmission has been proven to be caused by a person, now they are trying to figure out exactly how a person caused it.

[Sarah616]

Interesting note about negative Coggins, that for some reason had never occurred to me…
We had a different vet than our usual one doing a pre purchase exam in our barn, and he told the buyers that he suggested pulling a new Coggins, even if the one the horse came with was only a few months old. He then told the buyers to wait to pay for the horse until the Coggins came back as negative. His reasoning was that while Coggins are valid for a full year, they are technically only saying the horse was EIA negative on the day the blood was drawn. Perhaps the horse had contracted it a week later, but you didn’t find out until 6 months down the road because you didn’t “need” a new Coggins.

I’m not sure why exactly that had never occurred to me, but I don’t know that it’s standard practice to get a new Coggins immediately when a horse changes hands if the old one is in date, especially if it is coming from a seller that is known to you.

[Demerara_Stables]

Sure, I understand that. But my point is If a person inadvertently (or maybe not inadvertently) transmitted it, then couldn’t a horse be a carrier and not show symptoms? Wouldn’t that be a reason to require coggins for movement of horses and showing, as is done on the East Coast?

[trubandloki]

@Sarah616

I’m not sure why exactly that had never occurred to me, but I don’t know that it’s standard practice to get a new Coggins immediately when a horse changes hands if the old one is in date, especially if it is coming from a seller that is known to you.

I am old and have only bought and sold slightly more than a handful of horses in my life, but everyone has been contingent on a negative coggins that was drawn as part of the PPE.

So funny how things are done so differently in different parts of the country.

[Moderator_1]

It’s fine to have two threads on this topic to make sure the information is out there.

[EmilyM]

i don’t know if this is true, but I was under the impression the negative coggins doesn’t transfer to new owners, so if you need to show a negative coggins for a show, e.g., you would need a new one anyway? I always do a coggins test during PPE for that reason. I could be wrong, but I believe a vet had told me this tidbit years ago.

[trubandloki]

@EmilyM

i don’t know if this is true, but I was under the impression the negative coggins doesn’t transfer to new owners, so if you need to show a negative coggins for a show, e.g., you would need a new one anyway? I always do a coggins test during PPE for that reason. I could be wrong, but I believe a vet had told me this tidbit years ago.

That is what I understand too.

[skydy]

@Demerara_Stables

https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/ahfss/animal_health/horses_and_equidae.html

And from Pacific Valley Equine:
“A Coggins Test tests for the prevalence of Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA). All horses traveling to and from horse events (shows, auctions, etc.) must have a current Coggins. In the state of California, a Coggins test must be current within a 6-month period.”

[Demerara_Stables]

The quote about needing a coggins within 12 months to go to a show is not correct, I’m not sure who Pacific valley equine is, but that is not the rule here. As quoted at the cdfa link shared:

“For equine movements into the state, California requires a valid Certificate of Veterinary Inspection (CVI), issued within 30 days before entry, and evidence of a negative Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA) test performed at a USDA-approved laboratory within twelve (12) months before the date of entry.”

There is no requirement for horses moving within the state.

[skydy]

Vet recommendation from CA https://www.pacificcrestequine.com/site/blog/2022/05/20/coggins-testing-eia#:~:text=California%20Coggins%20Testing%20Regulations%20A%20Coggins%20Test,must%20be%20current%20within%20a%206-month%20period.

If California has no regulation re Coggins test for horses traveling in State, then that is all the more reason to test. Most horse owners that have their horses vaccinated and otherwise cared for by a veterinarian have the sense to have their Vet run a Coggins, especially if they take their horses to horse shows, add or remove horses from their property, or have horses coming to the property for clinics etc… It’s pretty basic care.

There will always be people who don’t care enough to take the proper precautions, but I don’t think that they are the majority by any means. EIA is a death sentence and most people would be horrified to be “that person” whose lack of diligence resulted in the preventable death of other peoples horses.

My “at home” hacks were always current with their Coggins even though they were never hauled out for shows. It’s common sense, since EIA is usuallly transmitted by insects and then from horse to horse, it is important for the origin of the infection to be known. New horse owners should educate themselves and ask their vet about the basic tests and vaccines that should be administered.

I have no idea what this racehorse trainer was doing, but it seems pretty inexcusable at this point in time.

[Demerara_Stables]

@skydy

Most horse owners that have their horses vaccinated and otherwise cared for by a veterinarian have the sense to have their Vet run a Coggins, especially if they take their horses to horse shows, add or remove horses from their property, or have horses coming to the property for clinics etc… It’s pretty basic care.

@skydy

There will always be people who don’t care enough to take the proper precautions, but I don’t think that they are the majority by any means. EIA is a death sentence and most people would be horrified to be “that person” whose lack of diligence resulted in the preventable death of other peoples horses.

Maybe this is true on the East Coast but in California the majority do not pull coggins. I have dealt with at least 8 to 10 different vets in the Bay area alone and none of them have recommended pulling a coggins. I’m not saying that there isn’t a world in the future where we might need to do that, but it is definitely not the majority here. Frankly, I don’t even know anybody who has pulled a coggins that wasn’t traveling out of state.

[SusanO]

My horses don’t go anywhere except to the vet where I use the farrier there. They live at my house with no horses nearby and no horses coming and going. I get a Coggins on all three yearly. Just in case I might have to go someplace. You never know. I have friends with basically backyard horses that do not do this. Nobody comes on this place without a Coggins.

[Demerara_Stables]

I’m not saying that’s not the case in other parts of the country. That’s how it was when I was in Florida and all of my horses had a coggins at least once a year regardless of if they were going anywhere. What I’m saying is that that is not the case in California. Half the people I talk to don’t even know what a coggins is.

Personally, I’m not opposed to getting one, but my understanding when I moved here was that they are not common because we had not had any EIA cases here in as long as anybody could remember. If my vet were to say to me “Hey you should start pulling coggins,” I would have no problem with that but the system only works if it’s required everywhere.