On July 28, Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA) officials released an equine infectious anemia (EIA) quarantine in Clarke County. The quarantine was enacted in April when a Quarter Horse at a Clarke County facility tested positive during routine testing for interstate travel. It had exhibited no clinical signs and was subsequently humanely euthanized.

The case was Georgia’s first in 2020. Other horses at the index case’s facility received follow-up testing, which did not reveal any additional cases. Georgia is now free of EIA-related quarantines.

About EIA

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.

A Coggins test screens horses’ blood for antibodies that are indicative of the presence of the EIA virus. Most U.S. states require horses to have proof of a negative Coggins test to travel across state lines