Indiana Horse Tests Positive for Equine Infectious Anemia

The Lake County gelding was euthanized and exposed horses were quarantined.
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Indiana Horse Tests Positive for Equine Infectious Anemia
A 6-year-old Quarter Horse gelding in Lake County, Indiana, tested positive for equine infectious anemia (EIA) on July 19.| Photo: Wikimedia Commons
A 6-year-old Quarter Horse gelding in Lake County, Indiana, tested positive for equine infectious anemia (EIA) on July 19.

Officials subsequently retested the index horse and tested and quarantined 10 exposed horses at the same premises. The National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa, confirmed that both the suspect Quarter Horse’s initial and second samples tested positive on agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) testing. Officials are performing additional trace-back work, because the premises’ owner maintains facilities in both Indiana and Illinois; however, the owner stated that the horse had not been moved recently.

Veterinarians euthanized the positive horse on July 29 and will test the remaining horses when the quarantine expires 60 days from the affected horse’s diagnosis. Routine Coggins testing continues to be the most effective method of EIA control, said Sandy Norman, DVM, director of the Indiana State Board of Animal Health’s companion and equine division.

EIA 101

Equine infectious anemia is a viral disease that attacks horses’ immune systems. The virus is transmitted through the exchange of body fluids from an infected to an uninfected animal, often by blood-feeding insects such as horseflies. It can also be transmitted through the use of blood-contaminated instruments or needles

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Written by:

Diane Rice earned her bachelor’s degree in agricultural journalism from the University of Wisconsin, then married her education with her lifelong passion for horses by working in editorial positions at Appaloosa Journal for 12 years. She has also served on the American Horse Publications’ board of directors. She now freelances in writing, editing, and proofreading. She lives in Middleton, Idaho, and spends her spare time gardening, reading, serving in her church, and spending time with her daughters, their families, and a myriad of her own and other people’s pets.

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