Planning to sell Ol’ Paint? After September 1, Texas law will require that equine, including horses, donkeys, mules, and asses, have a test for equine infectious anemia (EIA), (also known as “Coggins” or “Swamp Fever”) within 12 months before the animals undergo any change of ownership. The law exempts nursing foals changing ownership with their test-negative dams, and equine sold to slaughter. Persons who sell equine and fail to comply with the law, passed as House Bill 1732 in the 76th Texas Legislature, commit a Class “C” misdemeanor.

“Buying test-negative animals will reduce the chance of taking home an infected animal,” said Dr. Terry Beals, executive director of the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC), the state’s livestock health regulatory agency. “It’s a real shame to buy an untested horse, get home, and find out later that the animal is infected and has exposed your best horse to the disease.”

EIA is a viral disease spread from an infected equine to a “clean” equine by blood-to-blood contact. Biting flies can mechanically carry the disease from one horse to another, and unsterilized medical instruments or blood transfusions can also put equine at risk. (Mosquitoes are not capable of spreading EIA.) Like some other viral diseases, EIA can strike as an acute infection, in which the animal becomes very ill and dies. At the other extreme are infected equine that show no signs of being ill, but test positive for the disease. These equine pose a threat, as no one suspects the animal has a health problem, even though it is a reservoir for disease.

“Our 12 governor-appointed commissioners have proposed regulations that will bring us in line with the new change-of-ownership testing law and clarify conditions for selling equine to slaughter without a test,” said Dr. Terry Beals