ECoV frequently affects the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, leading to colitis (infection of the colon) and causing fever, anorexia (refusing to eat), and lethargy (fatigue) in horses. | Photo: iStock

Veterinarians detect coronavirus in horses—which isn’t COVID-19 and isn’t transmissible to and from humans—by testing feces in the laboratory. If those tests are positive and the horse is showing classic clinical signs of fever, anorexia, and lethargy, you can safely assume he has coronavirus disease without further testing, according to new study results.

Current diagnostic procedure calls for multiple additional tests to rule out other sources of disease that might be causing the clinical signs, said Macarena Sanz, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVIM, PhD, assistant professor at Washington State University, in Pullman.

Even so, rapid and accurate diagnosis of equine coronavirus (ECoV) is necessary to maintain control over outbreaks of the “highly contagious” disease, she said. Horses can shed the virus for 14 days in their feces, and if other horses consume the virus in soiled bedding or pastures, for example, they could become infected. “It is important to isolate positive horses for a minimum of two weeks, with three weeks being preferred,” said Sanz