The Equine Disease Communication Center (EDCC) reported Sept. 1 that the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture has confirmed the first equine infectious anemia (EIA)-positive horse for 2016.

The 14-year-old Quarter Horse mare was located in Atoka County, the EDCC said.

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 a noninfected animal, often by blood-feeding insects such as horseflies, and more rarely through the use of blood-contaminated instruments or needles.

A Coggins test screens horses’ blood for antibodies that are indicative of the presence of EIA, and most states require horses to have proof of a negative Coggins test in order to travel

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