They cross provinces and borders and attend clinics, rodeos, shows, breeding facilities, auctions, veterinary hospitals and training barns. They are leased, sold, shared, fostered, rescued and relocated with a frequency that would have been unthinkable even a generation ago.

Yet mobility in today’s horse world extends beyond the horses that visibly travel.

Even those that never leave home are connected indirectly through farriers, veterinarians, trainers and visitors who move between barns, or through biting insects that recognize no property lines. Movement, whether obvious or unseen, is now a defining feature of modern horse life.

This level of interconnectedness brings with it both opportunity and responsibility.

Diseases such as equine infectious anemia continue to surface periodically across Western Canada — not explosively, and not in any one place or discipline, but persistently enough to remind us that boundaries matter in a world where horses and the people who care for them are constantly in motion.

The disease appears wherever horses are moving, mixing or simply sharing space.

What often goes unseen is the asymptomatic carrier — a horse that shows no outward signs of illness and may never do so. These horses become visible only through Coggins testing.

Enter the Coggins test

The Coggins test, including its newer versions, detects antibodies to the virus rather than the virus itself.

Modern ELISA and PCR-adjacent assays used in EIA surveillance are more sensitive and faster, but in practice they still identify exposure and immune response.

They do not determine whether the virus is actively replicating, whether the horse is infectious at that moment or whether the horse will ever develop clinical disease. In other words, a positive result reflects exposure and not active illness.

It is this reality that brings many owners to a quiet and reasonable question: If my horse looks healthy, why test?

That question is sensible.

A horse showing no clinical signs may live an entire life without ever appearing ill, though this is not a certainty. Yet a positive result carries consequences that are immediate and often irreversible.

In Canada, a confirmed positive falls under the oversight of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, triggering investigation, movement restrictions, regulatory reporting and sometimes difficult management decisions.

The tension is real: testing provides information, but that information can introduce stress and limitation without necessarily acknowledging or altering the horse’s apparent health.

At the same time, a proportion of horses remain undetected as carriers living without clinical signs.

A negative test, such as a Coggins, is only a snapshot because it confirms status on the day the sample was taken and not over the following months.

Tests administered every six months for export or once a year for boarding do not guarantee that a horse cannot be infected the day after the blood is drawn. Biology does not adhere to paperwork.

Biosecurity critical

This is where biosecurity becomes the most intelligent choice for individual horse owners.

While testing provides legal and administrative assurance where required, biosecurity protects the horse in practice. It addresses the everyday realities of a mobile, interconnected system: shared needles and equipment, visitors moving between barns, insects, new arrivals, commingling at competitions and clinics and the dynamics of boarding environments.

Good biosecurity does not rely on perfect knowledge or perfect compliance; rather, it simply reduces risk wherever it can be managed.

Coggins testing remains a regulatory necessity. It allows horses to cross borders, join events, enter boarding facilities and comply with jurisdictional requirements.

While it is not perfect, it functions as a tool for containing systemic risk, even when individual biological risk remains uncertain.

In other words, biosecurity is the active, intelligent choice an owner makes every day, while Coggins testing is the tool that allows horses to move within the wider system legally and transparently.

Testing questions

For the individual horse owner, the question ”why test” cannot be answered cleanly.

The original science underpinning this testing is decades old, and meaningful updates would require substantial financial investment along with difficult decisions about who would bear that cost.

Yet testing itself is expensive and administratively demanding. It continues because it is a workable tool, not because it resolves every ethical or biological uncertainty.

Owners are wise to feel conflicted; the system operates at a scale and logic that do not always align with the lived reality of a single healthy horse.

Mobility changes responsibility

For horse owners, mobility changes responsibility, even if uncomfortable.

Horses, whether they travel or not, are part of a system that moves quickly and widely.

Biosecurity, vigilance and testing are the tools we have. None is perfect, but together they offer the most grounded approach in an era where horses move farther, faster and more frequently than ever before.

The post Why Coggins testing still matters in an era of mobile horses appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The incurable disease can cause anemia, anorexia, weakness and fever, among other symptoms and can be potentially deadly.

The disease has been a recurring problem for equine owners in Western Canada, one that has been federally reportable since the ’70s and that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has been keeping close watch on since 1998.

The CFIA is now changing tack to the disease. Led by a 2015 strategy paper, the agency says eradicating EIA from Canada is not feasible. Instead, the CFIA wants to tighten rules on horse movement and mandatory testing, particularly in Saskatchewan and Alberta where EIA has been most prevalent. The program would spill into Manitoba and British Columbia, though to a lesser degree.

Cain Quam, owner and trainer at Quam Performance Horses, worries that mandatory testing will mean a chill in horse clubs reliant on grassroots support, noting that they have commonly seen horse show entries drop by a third to a half whenever mandatory testing has been introduced.

“At that point, we can no longer feasibly budget a show at any kind of venue that would hold a larger group of horses, like, a larger show that would help us promote our sport in public, No. 1, but also generate revenue for our clubs so that we could continue to pay our bills and move forward,” he said.

The test is also an additional cost that might deter entries into the sport, Quam argues.

“I think there are clubs that will do and will continue to ask for a mandatory Coggins test and I think some of those clubs will continue to do that because of, maybe, the demographic or the people who participate in those clubs. That may not be a problem,” he said, referring to the province’s higher-level clubs, whose members are likely well accustomed to Coggins testing, the industry standard against EIA.

Those clubs are in the minority, however, he said, and the majority of horse and pony clubs in Saskatchewan are the very grassroots clubs that he argues will be hardest hit by the change.

Testing proponents disagree.

Manitoba had its own EIA scare last year, when a series of cases shut down horse sports in the Interlake and EIA fear spilled over into the province’s summer fair circuit, with some events winnowing down horse events or setting down their own testing requirements.

“Equestrian is definitely a very costly sport,” Robyn Bjornson, horse show organizer in Arborg said at the time. “People put a lot of money and time into their horses, their trailers, their tacks. To get a $50 test and get the whole Manitoba herd down to a negative herd so that everybody feels safe to move around, I think is very vital from a provincial standpoint to go forward.”

The CFIA disputes the claim that changes will hurt grassroots clubs, at least for the program’s first phase when mandatory testing will be aimed at events with 200 horses or more.

“It is anticipated that the majority of horses will not be participating in such events, therefore no significant impact on membership in grassroots clubs is foreseen,” a CFIA spokesperson said in a written statement to the Co-operator. “It is important to note that many equestrian events (e.g. in Eastern Canada, the U.S., and other countries) already have this requirement.”

No quarantines

Changes would also remove quarantine options for the disease, and the CFIA will require any horse found positive for EIA to be put down.

The CFIA previously allowed a positive horse to be put in lifetime quarantine, although veterinarians have said that, in practice, the quarantine was often logistically impossible and the animal was put down anyway.

Opponents also note the changes would see the staged end of traceback activities and would severely limit CFIA interventions.

“They’re not going to trace back and they’re not going to do cross-fence testing, basically all the things that help them find new cases of EIA,” Quam said. “They’re basically just going to impose the mandatory Coggins testing on all the shows.”

It is his view, however, that showing horses are at a lower risk of EIA, while reservoirs of the disease exist in animals that do not find their way onto the circuit, and would therefore slip through the cracks of the program.

The proposed policy argues that new traceback activities will be more scientifically based and would, “help to identify additional points in time when virus transmission was most likely to have occurred and not be limited to the previous 30 days as with the current CFIA response.”

“The CFIA is looking at redesigning the EIA program to deploy resources in those activities that would be most effective in controlling the disease,” the CFIA said. “Horses that have been exposed to or contract EIA only pose a risk to other horses if they are commingling. The proposed new program would adopt a risk-based approach by targeting horses when/if they commingle.”

Critics such as Quam have also questioned the effectiveness and enforceability of the new rules, noting a clean test doesn’t mean an animal hasn’t subsequently been infected.

Quam suggested some owners may have tested horses that travel, but some remaining on farm and not tested, therefore opening a window for infection.

“Really, you’re getting a bit of a false sense of security,” he said.

Veterinarians and testing proponents, however, argue that blanket testing reduces the risk of an infected animal attending shows or spreading the disease through the province.

“Testing is kind of the best method we have in order to try and identify horses that are currently carrying the virus so that we can limit the spread of the virus further,” Dr. Chris Bell of Elder’s Equine Veterinary Service said last year. “But, with all testing, it is an issue where you only know the status as of the day of the test. The reason for wanting to test the animals is to avoid grouping animals that have unknown statuses.”

For those that already travel, the new rules may mean little change, particularly in Manitoba where no movement permit will be required.

Various fairs and events already introduced a Coggins test requirement last year after an EIA scare disrupted the horse shows in the Interlake, while for horse and pony owners that commonly travel to larger events, both in Canada and the United States, Coggins tests are already routine.

Ron Kristjansson, general manager for the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba, says they were generally happy with the proposal from the CFIA, although he would like to see season taken into account.

Biting flies are considered a major vector of the blood-to-blood disease. For winter and fall events, such as the exhibition’s Ag Ex in October or Royal Manitoba Winter Fair, Kristjansson argues that the risk is muted.

The organization launched its own boosted biosecurity program this year, including a mandatory EIA test for the Manitoba Summer Fair in June.

“We’ve got to be out ahead of it and make sure we’re looking after everyone’s horses that come to our fairs,” Kristjansson said.

The CFIA says it is taking public comment until June 18 and results may determine if the program is developed further. Program details are posted under the CFIA’s “Accountability” tab on its website.

Tabled for change

New EIA rules might depend a lot on where you live, if the CFIA’s proposal goes through.

Proposed changes would group Alberta and Saskatchewan as a primary control zone, while Manitoba, British Columbia and the Yukon would buffer those provinces as a secondary control zone.

In the initial year, any equine event with more than 200 animals would require owners to present a negative test no more than six months old to attend.

Moving horses in Saskatchewan and Alberta would have an additional hurdle, regardless of the size of the event, with a proposal for mandatory permits for any equine movement into, out of, or within the primary control zone.

The CFIA is posed to tighten requirements further after the first year of the program. Year two would extend the test requirement to events with 100 or more equines and all permanent racetracks. The proposal also leaves the door open to lowering the testing threshold to 50 animals, and expanding mandatory tests to all racetracks, assembly yards and auction marts.

The first year of the program would also see the end of 30-day traceback activities from the CFIA in Saskatchewan and Alberta, as well as limiting interventions to properties where the disease has been actively found on neighbouring “fenceline premises… if applicable.” By the second year, activities on fenceline premises would also be curbed.

Manitoba, and the rest of the secondary control zone, will also see 30-day traceback fall by the wayside, although not until the second year of the program.

The post Horse owners have mixed views on EIA policy appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The 2018 Royal Manitoba Winter Fair was the first time the body required proof of vaccination for both equine herpes virus and equine influenza.

“It’s been very positive,” said Ron Kristjansson, general manager for the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba. “There’s more awareness of some equine diseases. There’s been a few little flare-ups and things and people are concerned.”

Kristjansson says organizers have been talking about ramped-up biosecurity for years, although last year’s rash of serious equine illnesses, including a spring issue with neurological equine herpes virus, brought the matter to the fore.

“It’s a perfect time to look at our biosecurity measures (and) make sure that we’re not sharing pails, sharing brushes, sharing tack between other horses and all those other kinds of things,” he said.

Dr. Joe King of Virden Animal Hospital tagged both equine herpes and influenza as a risk for the winter fair.

“Both of these are contagious respiratory viruses that affect all different lifestyles of horses,” he said. “What we decided for the health and safety of all the horses that come to show here is that in order to have an adequate level of immunity for those viruses, we needed to make it mandatory that all exhibitors, all contestants had proof of vaccination.”

Participants had to prove that they had used an accepted vaccine for each virus and that all booster shots were up to date.

King says he has never diagnosed equine herpes in the five years he has been the on-site fair veterinarian, but he has found equine influenza in the past.

Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba events are among the largest in the province in terms of drawing livestock from a wide geographic region. Ag Ex, typically held in October, generally hosts a national breed cattle show each year and, last year, drew 800 cattle and over 1,300 head of livestock in general.

Kristjansson noted that the fair does have an isolation area and that all horses were monitored for temperature changes.

Equine infectious anemia

The fair did not require a Coggins test, the standard measure against equine infectious anemia (EIA). That will change for the 2018 Manitoba Summer Fair this June, Kristjansson said.

EIA concern flared across Manitoba and particularly in the Interlake last year, leading some summer fairs and rodeos to cancel horse events or introduce a Coggins test requirement.

Although harder to spread than some other illnesses, the blood-borne disease carries a practical death sentence for any infected horse since the CFIA requires any infected animal to be euthanized or quarantined for life (an unrealistic option in most cases).

Kristjansson and King pointed out that EIA risk at the indoor Royal Manitoba Winter Fair is minimal, given that the disease is typically transmitted by biting flies.

Without flies, King noted that the only EIA risk might come from used needles or bits if an infected horse has sores in its mouth. That risk would be a “within a stable” problem and unlikely threaten stock from a different area, he said.

General biosecurity also got an upgrade this year. The Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba brought in more antibacterial footbaths to be placed at the entries and exits of all areas containing animals. Additional signage was also introduced, encouraging visitors to wash their hands and ask before touching animals to avoid spreading contact diseases.

“We were looking for any ways that we could decrease the transfer of viruses or bacteria between horses at the fair,” King said. “With this being a very family-, community-oriented event, it is expected that people will come and they’ll roam the barns and they’ll look at the horses and, sometimes, they will touch the horses, we know. What we decided was to really ramp up the use of hand sanitizers and disinfectant footbaths and signage was a big thing, and that was a great thing that the group at the Provincial Exhibition did.”

Cattle did not need proof of vaccination, although Kristjansson says they are considering how to fold bovine concerns into their policy.

King argued that equine herpes and influenza vaccines should become a standing requirement for the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba. That is unlikely to cause problems for competitors, he noted, since travelling and competing horses are generally recommended to get those vaccines every six months anyway.

“We’re building the protocols and they’ll change as we go,” Kristjansson said. “As other disease concerns come up, we can add or take some out.”

The policy has not significantly impacted entry numbers at the fair, he added.

The post Provincial Ex beefs up biosecurity appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Alex McIsaac, Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) western animal health specialist, said a number of EIA carriers in the province have slipped through the cracks until now due to infrequent testing.

Animals infected with EIA may not show symptoms but may still spread the disease.

“I do think next year there will be another big push to test for shows and sales and I think we’ll probably find some more next year as well, and that’s what usually happens, right? You’ll usually have an index case that causes a big rush in testing and then you start finding extra cases and it usually goes on for another year… and then after that you don’t find any more and then people start waning on their testing and people don’t test anymore and then it builds back up. It just works in a cycle,” he said.

Seven premises were put on lockdown and 17 horses tested positive for EIA and were euthanized in 2017, the CFIA reports. Of those, four premises have been released from quarantine, while farms in the municipalities of Rosedale, Springfield and Armstrong are still being monitored.

• Read more: Ag societies turn to mandatory testing as EIA scare continues
• Read more: Equine anemia turns up in some Manitoba horses

McIsaac expects one of those three to be released in the near future.

The CFIA tests all equines on a farm where an animal is found positive. The farm is then put into 45-day quarantine, the longest incubation period for the virus, before animals are tested again. If no other animals test positive, the premise is considered EIA free.

The CFIA requires that any infected animal be either put down or quarantined for life, although most EIA-positive animals are euthanized in practice.

The incurable, blood-borne virus causes swelling in the extremities, weakness, anorexia and weight loss, intermittent fever, depression, jaundice, small hemorrhages under the tongue and eye and is potentially fatal.

Reduced contagion risk

The disease is less likely to spread as Manitoba’s short summer winds down and biting flies, the main vector for EIA, disappear, McIsaac said, although already-infected horses still need to be found.

“Without testing, you can’t really determine whether there’s infected horses out there which harbour the virus,” he said.

A number of animals this year, including the most recent EIA case in September, tested positive for the virus but showed no symptoms.

The outbreak stayed largely contained to the Interlake. The first cases appeared in the RM of St. Clements, followed by two infected animals in the RM of Armstrong. Cases were eventually discovered in the municipalities of Springfield, St. Andrews, Hanover and Rosedale.

It was a grim summer for horse sports in the region. The Arborg Fair and Rodeo cancelled all horse bucking, chuckwagons, vaulting demonstrations and pony rides and saw far fewer barrel racing competitors July 14-16. The fair’s bucking stock provider was among the infected premises and in quarantine at the time.

The North Interlake Show Circuit also cancelled most events this summer.

Outside the Interlake, a number of agricultural societies and horse events required a valid Coggins test, commonly used to detect EIA, before allowing animals on the grounds.

Arborg was among the first to require mandatory testing, although the requirement also popped up during the Carman Fair in mid-July. Others, such as the Gilbert Plains-Grandview Agricultural Society, plan to add mandatory testing next year.

The Manitoba Horse Council required a valid Coggins test for all events at the Birds Hill Park Equestrian Facility, including the 2017 Manitoba Equestrian Championships in September.

“It was a requirement that we set in response to the outbreaks that we had, some of which were worryingly close enough that it was certainly warranted,” council executive director John Savard said. “At the horse council, we’ve determined (it) to be the best practice for shows anyway and we’re very happy to state that to anyone.”

EIA did impact event attendance and one event had to be cancelled out of concern over the disease, Savard said.

The board has yet to determine if the requirement will remain after this year, although Savard expects it to become standing policy.

The Coggins requirement applied only to the equestrian facility, not trail riding or other horse activities in Birds Hill Park.

McIsaac added that he was impressed overall with horse show and horse association responses in the wake of the outbreak.

“We had an initial rush and, I’ll be frank with you, a little bit of a panic, and they handled it very, very well. I was quite pleased how it worked out,” he said.

Ag Ex on EIA

Brandon’s Ag Ex, one of the largest events left on Manitoba’s show and rodeo circuit, will not require a Coggins test, although general manager Ron Kristjansson says they are monitoring the outbreak. The Provincial Exhibition, the organizing body for Ag Ex, is recommending but not requiring horses be tested.

Unlike the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair, the Provincial Exhibition is the host, but not the organizer of horse events during Ag Ex, he added. Instead, organizers for the horse sales, ranch sorting, and Manitoba Rodeo Cowboy Association (which will hold its finals at Ag Ex), will be responsible for their own rules.

“We are working with our veterinarian to come up with a specific equine biosecurity protocol for the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair, which will be in March 2018, and that we’re going to use as a framework for all of our horse events going forward from there,” Kristjansson said. “We may require some specific vaccinations for specific diseases. We’re just kind of in the final stages of putting that together to send out to our exhibitors.”

The Provincial Exhibition put a higher focus on biosecurity this year, including boot baths in the barns and an on-site veterinarian during events. Owners were also asked to take animal temperatures.

The post EIA down, but not necessarily out, with incoming cold appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The outbreak has shut down all horse shows in the Interlake region this summer and prompted other show organizers to require advance testing of all horses attending their events.

“There used to be a time where, in order to move from a show to a show, you would’ve had to have had an EIA (test, otherwise known as a Coggins test)… As the risk waned down, so did the surveillance,” Dr. Chris Bell, owner of Elder’s Equine Veterinary Service, said. “We’ve got into a period of time now in the past 10 to 15 years where horsemen are not used to having to require a Coggins test and so, as a result unfortunately, we don’t know exactly where from, but obviously a couple of positive carriers have snuck into the herd.”

As of late June, five animals in the province were confirmed infected with the potentially fatal virus, which can cause weakness, anorexia, fever, depression, jaundice and small hemorrhages under the tongue and eye, among other symptoms. Three infected animals were reported June 9 in the RM of St. Clements, followed two weeks later by two confirmed infections in the nearby RM of Armstrong.

On July 14, the Virden Animal Hospital Facebook page posted that another three premises were reported positive; one in the RM of Hanover, one in the RM of St. Andrews, and a second in the RM of Armstrong.

Flies main vector

Flies are a main vector for EIA as they may bite infected animals then transfer the blood-borne disease to any healthy equine they bite afterwards. Medical equipment, such as syringes, may also transmit the virus, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) says. Foals may also contract the virus from an infected mare or through their sire’s semen. Such infected foals often abort or die within months of birth.

Arborg is so far the only stop on the Heartland Rodeo Association schedule to require a negative Coggins test. Some of its horse events were suddenly cut as a result of EIA.

Pony rides, chuckwagon racing, vaulting demonstrations and horse bucking events were all cancelled during the July 14-16 fair and rodeo. The North Interlake Show Circuit, normally a draw for up-and-coming riders throughout the region, was also pulled and organizers have cancelled all other shows this year.

The circuit committee expressed concern that several positive-tested horses had attended events prior to the virus being detected and that previous negative tests may now be false negatives.

Robyn Bjornson, Arborg’s horse show organizer and member of the North Interlake Show Circuit committee, said going ahead without testing would have been “very irresponsible” given EIA cases in the region.

Bucking events were originally set to go forward, but cancelled after the rodeo’s stock supplier reported six positive tests and was put under quarantine.

“It was a bit of a juggling match,” Bjornson said. “We definitely didn’t anticipate the bucking stock not coming, but we all pulled together and it ended up turning out OK. The spectator attendance was definitely up. We have a very strong tractor pull and that really saved us, and we have a really strong kids’ zone.”

Competitors stay home

More steer wrestling was also added. Barrel racing, however, took a major hit, according to Bjornson.

“We were down probably close to 50 competitors,” she said. “Day 1 on the rodeo, we were down 60 entries.

“It was definitely a very sad Friday night. Usually we have a big horse show in attendance and we have all the bucking stock and all the corrals would have been filled and you looked over the fairgrounds on Friday and there wasn’t one horse trailer.”

The Arborg Agricultural Society says any future horse events will also require a negative Coggins test.

Leighton Dyck, Heartland Rodeo Association bareback and saddle bronc director, said EIA has been a “continuous” discussion with various rodeo committees.

“You advise people to do their tests and look after their horse, but we can only do so much as an association — really make it known to everybody so that everybody at least knows it’s out there,” he said. “Really, when you take horses off your own property and take them to an event like that where there’s so many horses around, you kind of do it at your own risk.”

Entry numbers have not been significantly affected by EIA concern, he said.

Concern has since spread outside of the hard-hit regions of the Interlake. The Dufferin Agricultural Society also required a negative Coggins test during this year’s Carman Fair July 13-15.

However, Jane Martin, Strathclair Agricultural Society treasurer, said mandatory testing was discussed but not implemented during their fair July 18.

“We kind of inquired around to see what other fairs were doing and stuff, and people just, if they didn’t feel comfortable, they just didn’t come to the fair,” she said.

Entries dropped only slightly because of EIA, she added.

No cure

There is no known cure or vaccine for the virus and the CFIA requires that any animal testing positive be either put down or quarantined for life. Any infected horse is considered a lifetime carrier of the disease.

In practice, it means that EIA is often a death sentence for an animal and a loss of time, emotional and monetary investment for horse owners, although the CFIA may offer reimbursement if an animal is ordered destroyed. As such, the Coggins test requirement has met resistance from some corners.

“You hear it a lot from when you talk to different people,” Dyck said. “There are some people who don’t want to do it because you’re afraid that if your horse comes back positive, you lose your horse.”

Others are concerned about the cost, he said.

Bjornson said it is still worthwhile.

“Equestrian is definitely a very costly sport,” she said. “People put a lot of money and time into their horses, their trailers, their tacks. To get a $50 test and get the whole Manitoba herd down to a negative herd so that everybody feels safe to move around, I think is very vital from a provincial standpoint to go forward.”

Coggins tests range in price. Kevin Boese, Gilbert Plains-Grandview Agricultural Society president, says tests in his area range up to $150 per animal.

The Gilbert Plains-Grandview Agricultural Society Fair and Rodeo will also require a negative test, but not until next year.

“If we were going to make it mandatory, we would’ve had to cancel the fair,” he said. “Our stock contractor, he has 200 horses and he didn’t have the $20,000 to put out there to get his horses tested and our chuckwagon guys, they all said they weren’t testing.”

More testing next year

The fair ran July 21-23 and lost some entries in both the rodeo and light horse show due to EIA concern, although other event entries were strong, he said.

Despite not requiring it, tests were encouraged and the ag society asked owners to take precautions such as fly spray and fly nets. The society also sprayed insecticide over the grounds prior to the event.

Critics have also argued that infected animals may still slip through the system if they are infected after testing is done.

Most ag societies with mandatory testing have also included a time bracket to limit this risk. Arborg required tests be done no sooner than April 1. Dufferin said no earlier than May 28.

“Testing is kind of the best method we have in order to try and identify horses that are currently carrying the virus so that we can limit the spread of the virus further,” Bell said, “but, with all testing, it is an issue where you only know the status as of the day of the test. The reason for wanting to test the animals is to avoid grouping animals that have unknown statuses.”

He further advocated testing as a means of definitively grouping confirmed EIA-negative animals with other negative animals.

“I think, if we were to just put our head in the sand and say, ‘Well, I’m not going to test horses because we don’t like the idea that there could be one positive,’ then that would take one horse that may need to be put down and possibly translate it into 20 horses that need to be put down if that horse was to travel and transmit it,” he said.

Ideally, he added, owners would also test animals this fall and again in spring 2018 to weed out carriers in this latest outbreak.

The post Ag societies turn to mandatory testing as EIA scare continues appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Equine infectious anemia (EIA) was confirmed in horses from a property in the RM of St. Clements, north of Winnipeg, in early June, followed weeks later by a horse in the RM of Armstrong, in Manitoba’s Interlake region, according to a report from the Manitoba Horse Council.

The Equine Disease Communication Center, an arm of the American Association of Equine Practitioners, has reported the Armstrong horse was sampled as part of an investigation by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency into cases in St. Clements. The latter probe also includes a horse that had been moved to a breeding operation in Saskatchewan.

A federally reportable disease in Canada since 1971, EIA is a “potentially fatal” viral disease affecting horses and other equines such as donkeys and mules, with no human health risk, according to CFIA.

The disease has a history in Manitoba dating back to 1881 with the first recorded case in Canada, when it went by the name “swamp fever.”

However, the vast majority of Canada’s cases in the past 20 years have been in horses in Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, and no cases have been reported in Manitoba in recent years.

Apart from Manitoba’s new cases, EIA cases in 2017 have also been reported in the RMs of Torch River and Kinistino in northeastern Saskatchewan, at Mascouche in Quebec and in Beaver County southeast of Edmonton.

Most EIA-infected horses show no clinical signs of disease but will be carriers of the virus for life and can be a source of infection for susceptible animals. Foals infected with EIA before birth are often aborted, or die within two months of birth.

In infected horses, the virus’ incubation can range from one week to three months, with symptoms including anorexia, depression, general weakness, intermittent fever, jaundice, small hemorrhages under the tongue and eye, swelling of the extremities, and weight loss. In some cases, according to CFIA, a loss of co-ordination may be the only clinical sign.

Infected animals show temporary recovery from the severe stage of EIA and may even appear normal for two to three weeks before relapsing with similar, but less severe signs, CFIA said. Episodes of clinical illness are often associated with use of steroids or with periods of stress, such as hard work, hot weather, racing or pregnancy.

Horses or other equines confirmed with EIA are then either ordered destroyed by the CFIA or have to undergo lifelong quarantine.

EIA is transmitted mainly by transfer of contaminated blood from one animal to another, such as through horse flies, stable flies or deer flies, or when blood-contaminated objects such as needles or surgical tools are used on more than one animal. It can also be transmitted via semen from an infected stallion.

The disease so far has no cure, CFIA said, nor any vaccine to prevent an animal from becoming infected. — AGCanada.com Network

The post Equine anemia turns up in some Manitoba horses appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Often evidence for infection is noted only after routine surveillance testing for EIA.

EIA is a blood-borne and potentially fatal viral disease affecting the immune system of horses, donkeys, and mules worldwide.

EIA can present in an acute or chronic disease state or as an inapparent carrier. With initial exposure, the virus reproduces and traffics throughout the animal’s body within white blood cells.

Viral particles are then released into the blood and become attached to red blood cells. The horse’s immune system mounts a vigorous attack against the virus by producing antibodies.

This attack inadvertently also causes destruction of the horse’s own red blood cell components, resulting in anemia and organ-damaging inflammation. During this time the horse will be acutely ill, with heavy concentrations of virus in its bloodstream.

Clinical signs vary

The clinical signs, morbidity, and mortality of EIA vary with the strain of the virus and the immune system of each individual horse. Symptoms include fever, loss of appetite, depression, anemia, dependent swelling, jaundice, inco-ordination and/or muscle weakness and loss of condition.

Horses may die from the direct effects of the virus or from secondary infections as the body is weakened by the virus. Horses that survive the acute phase go on to experience chronic cyclic flare-ups of clinical signs as the horse alternates between remission and the disease state.

The onset of symptoms is often associated with stressors. Within a one-year period many horses begin to control the infection and show no clinical signs. These inapparent carriers may serve as source of infection for other horses. On occasion an apparently healthy horse will show serological evidence of viral infection yet never exhibit any symptoms of the disease.

Evidence for infection is noted when a horse develops a clinical bout of illness or after routine surveillance testing for EIA. Much about the pathogenesis of EIA is not completely understood, including the mechanism which allows the virus to survive the immunological response of the horse.

In a natural setting, the EIA virus is most commonly transmitted from an infected horse to a non-infected horse by the mechanical transfer of blood from blood-feeding insects such as horseflies and deer flies.

Transmission

The virus is passed from one horse to another on the insect’s mouthparts as it feeds. The painful bite of the flies causes the horse to react and interrupt the insect’s feeding. The fly seeks to immediately resume feeding on either the same animal or on another nearby horse.

If an uninfected horse is in close proximity to the infected horse, the completion of this blood meal is likely to effectively transfer virus between horses. Because of their strong instinct to immediately complete a blood meal, horseflies do not travel long distances before biting again.

Through the insect vector pathway, the disease can enter a herd and slowly and silently infect an increasing number of horses. Since these insects are mainly active in the summer months and prefer wet, marshy and wooded areas, outbreaks of EIA are often associated with horses pasturing in swampy areas, hence the name swamp fever.

Another means of blood transmission of EIA amongst horses is through the practice of sharing needles, and other blood-contaminated equipment such as dental floats, surgical instruments and tattooing tools.

There is currently no cure for EIA, nor is there an effective vaccine available to protect horses from getting EIA. As a result many countries including Canada and the U.S. have established control and containment programs based on voluntary serological testing.

Testing

The Coggins test is used to consistently and reliably detect the presence of EIA-specific antibodies. Confusion often arises because reference to the Coggins name does not appear anywhere on the EIA Serum test report and certificate.

The original test was developed by Dr. Leroy Coggins in 1970 and thus was aptly named the Coggins test. Currently a c-ELISA test is also employed, as it offers the advantage of rapid results. Blood sample can only be taken from horses by veterinary practitioners accredited by the CFIA.

A negative Coggins test is a snapshot of a horse’s health status at a particular point in time. A negative Coggins test means there were no detectable antibodies at the time of testing. A positive test indicates the horse does have detectable EIA-specific antibodies.

Venues involving the movement, co-habitation, and commingling of horses recognize different time frames regarding the eligible status of a negative Coggins test. Its eligibility can range from 30 days to a year.

Proof of a negative EIA test is an entry requirement for many competitions, horse-related events, boarding facilities, and is necessary for border crossings. For export purposes a negative Coggins is sufficient for 180 days. For the most part, the requirement for EIA testing is based on and determined by members within the horse industry itself.

EIA is a reportable disease under the Health of Animals Act. Horses confirmed to have EIA have limited options.

The CFIA requires that positive horses to be either euthanized or quarantined for life. Strict quarantine measures considerably limit the quality of life for the affected animal.

Owners of euthanized horses are compensated by the CFIA at a specified rate for the loss. In the case of a positive horse being identified, CFIA conducts focal testing where other positives may be identified.

The many stakeholders in the equine industry all share equal responsibility and vigilance for educating themselves regarding the management of EIA. In truth, there are many unknowns when assessing the risk EIA poses to any one individual horse.

Certain management and geographic factors do put particular horses at a greater risk for contracting EIA. Environments with a steady influx of new horses, horses pastured in damp, swampy areas, and animals in frequent contact with outside horses that live and travel in regions known for EIA outbreaks or which may have contact with feral horses chance a higher level of exposure to the EIA virus.

The post Understanding and controlling the risk of EIA appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.