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  Discussion on Was wondering if anyone had any comments on some research on EIA/Coggins?
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Posted on Wednesday, Apr 24, 2002 - 12:20 pm:

Hello all.

Let me say first, that I am just getting educated about EIA and Coggins testing. I was in AZ for 9 years with my horses and there is no mandatory Coggins testing (I guess because there are no mosquitos). Now I'm in WI, which has mandatory testing once a year. The test expires Dec. 31, and everyone has to get a new test in January to go to any shows or organized events.

I was on another bulletin board where some statistics were presented about EIA/Coggins and was wondering if anyone else has any comments or other statistics.

From what I was reading, it sounds like EIA isn't very wide spread and that horses die from a lot of other viral diseases way more than from EIA. The cost of yearly testing for me is $25 / horse and that could get prohibitive.

Anyway here are the statistics (and comments by the author):

I've been searching and reading a great deal more about EIA.

In 2001 there were 46,029 horses tested in Mn. of these there were 20 that tested positive.

In the U.S. there were 1,876,972 horses tested. of these there were 534 that tested positive. Thats 0.0287% thats less then 3/10ths of 1%. About 25% of the positive horses were inapparent carriers and not going to spread the disease.

Horse owners paid over $32,000,000 for coggins tests in 2001.

The disease is not spread by mosquitoes, barn flies, your farrier, your vet or any other person. Its spread in 99% of the cases by biting flies. Deer flies and horse flies.

In order for the fly to spread it they have to bite an infected horse, fly to the next horse with enough blood on there stinger, and bite the next horse and inject the infected blood in less then 20 seconds.

The most common way large percentages of cases are found on the same farm is from poor mamagement. If you give an infected horse a shot, use the same needle on another horse you will very likly infect it. If you floot teeth on an infected horse draw blood and don't properly clean your floots you can easily infect the next horse.

EIA is a blood to blood disease. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR IT TO BE SPREAD ANY OTHER WAY.

Would I like to see EIA be wiped out? You bet i would!! But it ain't never gonna happen the way the laws are now.

Do i think it makes sense to spend over $32,000,000 a year to find about 400 horses that can spread it and then not destroy those horses?

Not hardly

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 24, 2002 - 8:23 pm:

Hi, Heidi, just read this in my mail, and was
VERY interested in your presentation. If true, I agree with you that it's a bit of overkill for the problem. I just had my three adult horses have the first of the two WNV (West Nile Virus) vaccinations. The series cost $158.oo (including two farm visits x $25.00). If this is an annual thing, then it will be quite expensive. The Coggins is $15 per head plus any trip fees in Oklahoma.

However, there is no mandatory state testing (that I am aware of) and is only required by the various organized equine functions on an organizational basis. To show, enter "playday" rodeo, rodeo and organized trail rides, a coggins is usually required. Ergo, the test is basically a mandated requirement unless you choose to not engage in activities off your own property.

However, a coggins test to screen horses annually seems to be like sticking your head in the sand, as it is only a snapshot in time for the tested animal. I beleive an animal can have a negative test today, be bitten by an infected insect after the test, and be a carrier, probably after some incubation period, and still not have to be retested until next year.

That seems, in itself, at least to me somewhat self defeating.........or am I missing something here, Dr. O? Wouldn't an infected animal be symptamatic long before the next required test??

Has a vaccine for the EIA been explored (I assume it has)and if not a vaccine, then isn't there any effective treatment available?

Just a thought.

Posted on Thursday, Apr 25, 2002 - 7:47 am:

Hello everyone,
Concerning direct questions about the disease these are answered in the article on Equine Diseases: Cardiovascular, Blood, and Immune System: Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA) and the Coggins Test. Heidi, your numbers on how long the virus persists on the fly are incorrect and the correct numbers are presented in the article.

We have had interesting discussions before on the appropriateness of testing and euthansia of positive reactors and running a search on Coggins will bring them up. But I want to discuss history and philosophy here.

To understand the appropriateness of current testing you must understand some of the history of the disease. Prior to testing for EIA in 1972 it was a wide spread and common disease resulting in the death of thousands of horses every year. Because of this the Federal and State Govt's have come in and set guidelines for controlling the disease and though they failed to eliminate the disease there is no doubt the incidence has fallen dramatically to bring us to the current state of affairs.

In defense of what appears to be a bit of overkill from the current perspective is that states without rigorous testing rules have seen increased incidence of EIA and in some of these states have seen recent tightening of these laws. Whether the gov't has the right to create these laws is an interesting debate.

I know there are some states requiring testing of every horse. However, this is not exactly what is happening to Heidi, as James points out. The gov't is not forcing her to have the test, she says she has to have the test to go to shows and organized horse events. As for the appropriateness of the interval, that depends on the incidence in the area. If the incidence is very low as it is in most areas of the US, 12 months seems to work and for some populations of horses I am not sure longer would suffice. The problem is that we keep rechecking the horses we are almost sure are negative every year and yet miss that population of horses that are never tested and seem to maintain the disease in horses.

So that brings us to my position that while the gov't may or may not have these rights common sense dictates that you should be concerned about the company your horse keeps. Personally I would not want to attend an event in the warm months in states where the disease were endemic, without knowing the other horses had been negative for EIA in the past 12 months. The current low incidence is maintained through the current testing regimen. I do think improvements to the system could be made that would result in it being made more targeted, easier, and yet a bit more secure.
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Apr 25, 2002 - 10:17 am:

Dr O. Thank you for taking the time to respond. James, I tend to agree with your statements.

Thanks for the information. Like I said above, I'm just getting involved in the whole Coggins/EIA debate. Most of the information above is not from me but from another source on another bulletin board. I will look at the article again and correct the information on how long the virus persists in the fly for the person who posted the data.

I am mostly curious to see what others think of the current testing scheme, especially since horses that test positive in my state (WI) (and IL and MN, the 2 states I frequent the most) are not required to be euthanized.

I agree Dr. O that it seems that it's one of those Catch 22 situations. The concientious horse owner who attends functions is having their horses tested. The less concientious or less concerned owners are not having their horses tested and that seems to be where the problems are.

I don't know what the answers are, but I am curious if anyone has any suggetions to try to finally eliminate this disease.
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