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  Discussion on EIA in Ireland for the first time
Author Message
Member:
Imogen

Posted on Friday, Jun 16, 2006 - 12:01 pm:

An outbreak of EIA has been reported in Kildare, the heart of the bloodstock industry in Ireland. The source is thought to have been infected serum products. I think these are the first EIA cases ever here.

I understand from the material on this website and others that if you have horseflies (yes) that is the main vector; I looked at the maps of incidence in the US and it seems to be very low except in a couple of States, but my US geography is too poor to understand why it does not appear to be hotter, more fly-ridden areas that always have the highest incidence.

Fortunately we're about 150 miles away... but everyone is on tenterhooks to see if there will be more cases leading to a slaughter policy in that region, whether there will be movement restrictions etc.

Interested to know how outbreaks would be handled in the US as there appear to be discrepancies between the policies in different states. I thought it was odd that California, nice and hot, had no horse flies and no Coggins test regulations.

Best wishes

Imogen
Member:
Kthorse

Posted on Friday, Jun 16, 2006 - 12:32 pm:

I two found it strange when I came to America that the laws very from state to state . It can make life confusing. Keep us updated on whats going on. I am not sure what they do here incase of an outbreak.
Member:
Jojo15

Posted on Friday, Jun 16, 2006 - 1:10 pm:

did you mean semen? or serum? what is a serum product?

Florida is stringent on Coggins. I didn't know about CA...interesting, i thought all states require UTD coggins testings.
Member:
Heidih

Posted on Friday, Jun 16, 2006 - 3:12 pm:

The difference you guys are seeing is not just heat, but humidity. Most of the flies and mosquitos that transmit EIA like it hot and humid. States like CA, AZ and NM are bone dry, so there really aren't a lot of horse flies that transmit EIA. The dry heat keeps the populations down because manure and other hosts for the larvae don't stay moist very long and the larvae don't have time to hatch before they are killed by the high heat. In fact, I don't think I saw a mosquito or deer fly then entire time I lived in AZ. Big fat horse flies are really rare too.

Most of the states that have higher incidence of EIA are hot and muggy. They have lots of rainfall and lots and lots of mosquitos and big nasty horse flies and Deer flies. Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida are the states that come to mind when I think of higher incidences of EIA.
Member:
Kathleen

Posted on Friday, Jun 16, 2006 - 5:00 pm:

Here is a site that lays it out for the whole country about EIA.
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/nahps/equine/eia/maps.html
New Member:
Eventmad

Posted on Saturday, Jun 17, 2006 - 1:21 pm:

Hi Imogen
I am from the UK. We have not had any cases here since 1976 ! When were the outbreaks reported. I have not seen or heard anything official. I understand that movement of horses is still fine from Ireland to the UK
Shelley
Member:
Christos

Posted on Saturday, Jun 17, 2006 - 1:37 pm:

Joj, see: References>Dictionary of Medical Terms.
Member:
Imogen

Posted on Sunday, Jun 18, 2006 - 3:27 am:

Apparently the Aga Khan (famous showjumping competition at the Royal Dublin Show) was restricted to UK and Ireland only in 1966 due to an outbreak in France... I think what Heidi says is right, we don't have it both hot enough and wet enough, though we do have plenty of horse flies, for it to become endemic here but if they have not managed to control it to this small outbreak I can see movement restriction and Coggins tests being a possibility here... will keep you posted.

Imogen
New Member:
Hebrides

Posted on Thursday, Aug 3, 2006 - 12:06 pm:

Hi all,

This is the latest on the swamp fever in Ireland.
https://www.irishhorseboard.com/news/article.asp?NID=492&NCID=27&T=N&Print=
Hopefully it will be contained.
Apparently no cases down to horseflies so far....fingers crossed!
Member:
Vickiann

Posted on Thursday, Aug 3, 2006 - 2:18 pm:

Unless something has changed without my knowing it, Pennsylvania does not have the regulations either, and is one of the states where the problem is growing. As previously stated, Florida has very stringent regulations, and though there are still plenty of horseflies, etc., our incidence has declined. Some moan and groan about the regulations, but they have served the intended purpose.
Member:
Mzollars

Posted on Thursday, Aug 3, 2006 - 2:41 pm:

I live in Southwestern Pennsylvania and in 27 years I have never heard of a case, although I've been required to have current Coggins at every event I've ever been to. To what regulations are you referring? In what regions of the state is the problem growing? This is a very scary thing.
Member:
Vickiann

Posted on Friday, Aug 4, 2006 - 12:16 am:

Perhaps I am mistaken Megan, but believe I saw this information in an AAEP article that Coggins was not required in Pennsylvania when you haul or ride your horse off your property. The numbers (though they were not alarming numbers) of positive cases shown had increased, but regions were not shown, while Florida's numbers had declined in spite of the more conducive conditions we have here, plus the fact we are within the top 3 states for number of horses, and some say more per capita than any state. We are not allowed to take our animals off our property at all without a negative coggins that must be rechecked yearly.
Member:
Mzollars

Posted on Friday, Aug 4, 2006 - 8:23 am:

Vicki, I read our regulations for Pennsylvania and you are correct. It is up to the specific show, fair, organization etc, whether or not they require a negative coggins. Thankfully, in my experience most of them do. You are not required to have a negative coggins to travel within the state, but horses being imported or exported across state lines must have it. The documented cases that I was able to find occured in the northern part of the state, (thankfully I'm in the very Southwest corner) and were found in horses being sold at auction. It would be nice to see more strict regulations here. I'm sure there would be a LOT of moaning and groaning, but I would say the majority would keep current annual coggins anyway. Everyone I've come into contact with has them but maybe that is due to the fact that we are so close to the West Virgina and Ohio lines and often travel out of state.
Member:
Vickiann

Posted on Friday, Aug 4, 2006 - 12:21 pm:

You have a lot of nice horses in the state, Megan. In fact, my two Arabians came from there, and my niece has a couple of jumping horses in Allison Park. As I recall, Pennsylvania is (unless recently changed) one of the States that still allows horses to be hauled in rather inhumane conditions -- double-decker trailers, that many other states have out-lawed. It would be good for the horse's welfare if concerned parties got organized and pushed some changes through. The coggins requirements here are quite controversial, but I believe the incidence would be much higher without them.
Member:
Mzollars

Posted on Friday, Aug 4, 2006 - 12:49 pm:

I will have to check on the hauling regulations. I'm not sure about that, as I've never seen it, at least not at the small auction we have here every week. I would definitely like to know and would certainly be one of the concerned pushers of better regulations! I suppose until recently, (basically after joining this site), I just didn't open my eyes to so many things going on. You know, "Those things don't happen here in my little corner of the world" synDrOme. This is a wonderful site and I learn so much every day.

BTW, Alison Park is about 45 minutes from me. Does she board her horses there?
Member:
Mzollars

Posted on Friday, Aug 4, 2006 - 1:09 pm:

Vicki, Here is a link to the news story covering the bill to ban hauling horses in double decker trailers. It was passed in 2001. I would like to see it stop all together myself. It makes my stomach churn. Do you know how many states currently have this law? Just curious.
https://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/836128/detail.html
Member:
Vickiann

Posted on Friday, Aug 4, 2006 - 2:04 pm:

Yes, Megan -- She is at BarGhee (spelling?) Stables. She travels, shows and competes quite a bit, jumping and hunter. Her goal is Grand Prix jumping and the Olympics. I am very glad to see Pennsylvania has put the law into effect against the double decker trailers. They must have done so shortly after I read it was still allowed there. I do NOT know what states still allow it, but AAEP probably would know. I will see if I can find out!
Member:
Canderso

Posted on Friday, Aug 4, 2006 - 4:21 pm:

Ummm ...Isn't this discussion about EIA in IRELAND?
Why are we discussing Pennsylvania????
Vicki and Megan, would you start another discussion on this topic, as EIA in Ireland is a pretty serious topic. They are in the middle of a pretty serious show season in a relatively small geographic area.

I just read that the Dressage Young Riders were un-invited to a big show in the UK because of fear of EIA.
Member:
Vickiann

Posted on Friday, Aug 4, 2006 - 8:57 pm:

Imogen -- You asked how outbreaks would be handled in the U.S. If a horse tests positive in Florida the authorities arrive to take your horse to put it down. Some people are allowed to donate their horses to isolated places where other positive horses are located and used for charitable functions (like riding for handicapped rehabilitation). Legally, I believe you can sometimes keep the horse, only if you have a huge and sufficient amount of land that insures mosquitoes would not bite your horse and then move along to someone elses. A positive horse once located is severely controlled for the remainder of its life. Sorry, Cheryl -- the question asked about what would happen in other places and Megan and I were discussing EIA regulations. Apologize for the small side bar -- didn't realize that was against the rules! If it is many of us are in trouble.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Aug 5, 2006 - 8:04 am:

I always consider the originator of the discussion of the owner and if they have problems with the direction a discussion is taking will then split it out. The one exception is when someone starts a new problem at the bottom of someone else’s discussion, these are often removed or redirected. Though I hate to be rude about this, if I didn’t the organization quickly disappears. We are quite lenient with new members, however.

We depend on the mutual respect of each other for these boards to work and part of that respect concerns sticking with the originators topic. It is near impossible for everyone to agree what is or is not on topic and we will let the owner of a discussion be the final arbitrator. A good rule of thumb is if you are uncertain, start a new discussion. These boards constantly amaze me at how polite a group of people can be, even in disagreement. In our 10 years and now almost 10,000 members who have joined, I have only had to remove 3 for rudeness.
DrO
Member:
Vickiann

Posted on Saturday, Aug 5, 2006 - 10:59 am:

It's good to review the rules once in a while because it is easy to forget them as time goes by. Sorry . . .
Member:
Jockyrdg

Posted on Saturday, Aug 5, 2006 - 6:31 pm:

I think I am on topic here as the originator asked about EIA (Swamp fever) in the US. It is very interesting to follow this disease which has been identified since the 1800's in Europe and the states. There was an excellent answer about the insect vector. Early on, before the days of disposable needles that also was a vector and it sounds like the medical handling of blood born products continues to pose a problem. In 1970 LeRoy Coggins came up with a test that could be relied on to determine if a horse carried the disease. This is known to us in the US as the Coggins test. In 1975 Florida had 2404 positive cases; '85 369; '95 107; and single digits in the 21st century years. There is no cure and no vaccine for Equine Infections Anemia. This should lead everyone to wonder how the numbers started DrOpping. Better hygiene regarding handling blood and control of "resource pools". The Federal government mandated that a horse traveling across state lines must be tested and if positive has 2 options;it can go to slaughter, it can go to research; it must be branded with a freeze or hot iron denoting it is positive and there are paragraphs of other regulations. In other words, the government saw it as a serious threat and took action to keep it from spreading. Each state developed it's own regulations for containment within it's boarders. Florida's has been described. NJ requires euthanasia. In addition to segregation or euthanasia almost all states require that other horses housed with the positive one be quarantined. The disease fiddles with the DNA and hence, the horse who is positive is always positive and therefore always able to pass the disease on even if he is asymptomatic. By reducing the resource pools through containment or elimination of the infected horses the government has dramatically reduced the numbers. Last year in the US over 2,000,000 Coggins were done, out of a horse population of around 8,000,000 so you see not everyone gets a coggins; but testing and action have had dramatic effects. There are still large resource pools such as in Texas. If you go to the USDA and APHIS (animal & plant health inspection service) web sites they have excellent, well written and entertaining information on EIA complete with active overlay maps charting positive numbers for decades. It is a reportable disease in the US. This should also remind us to happily comply with requests for coggins even on organized trail rides, it is for our own protection.
Member:
Vickiann

Posted on Saturday, Aug 5, 2006 - 7:17 pm:

Thanks, Beverly -- great information!
Member:
Imogen

Posted on Sunday, Aug 6, 2006 - 5:43 pm:

Just to update you on Ireland, there have been further cases but they are all connected to the original, serum-originated outbreak. The largest and best-known equine hospital in Ireland, Troytown, has been closed to new cases as a result.

There is no spread other than horses which had been in close contact with the original outbreak (but apparently they are keeping tabs on 280 plus horses as a result... Troytown is slap bang in the middle of the main breeding area with a high throughput of patients).

I will be attending the RDS (Dublin) Horse Show this week and if any more info will post it here. I see no sign of any movement restriction here as yet. Fingers crossed...

Imogen
Member:
Vickiann

Posted on Sunday, Aug 6, 2006 - 8:26 pm:

Thanks for the update,Imogen. We will all be hopeful for containment of this problem in Ireland! Have a good show!
Member:
Imogen

Posted on Saturday, Aug 12, 2006 - 3:25 am:

Great show, really enjoyed it. They isolated all the international horses within the showground from the Irish horses, and there was still a good turnout for the Nations Cup.

Additionally the government is now subsidising the testing and vet visits for the horses under observation for EIA. Clearly the other European vet authorities were happy with the measures or they would not have allowed their horses travel to the show.

The only sad note for anyone who's ever been to Dublin Show is that they have now turned the Simmondscourt side into a car park (yet more property development). The beautiful grass pony arena with tree in the middle has gone. I felt sorry for those kids who take 6 months to qualify to ride in Dublin having to jump in a sand arena on top of a car park - no atmosphere.

Trouble is, it's the highest value property in Dublin which itself is a very expensive city...

The shopping was good, the showing was good, there's a new future event horse class where they put up a "cross country" course in the main arena which was very interesting, all in all a trip to be recommended.

Best wishes

Imogen
Member:
Imogen

Posted on Wednesday, Sep 13, 2006 - 5:00 am:

Update: now a horse unrelated to the main outbreak tests positive

Hi all - a trailer for the main evening news suggested that we would be getting EIA restrictions in Ireland as a result of the discovery of a case unrelated to the main outbreak but there is nothing on the Department of Agriculture website yet except this:

DEPARTMENT CONFIRMS NEW CASES OF EQUINE INFECTIOUS ANAEMIA
The Department of Agriculture and Food has today confirmed the latest case of Equine Infectious Anaemia (EIA), bringing to twenty-one the number of confirmed cases since the middle of June.

The Department is currently investigating the circumstances of this latest case, which was in a horse on a previously unrestricted premises and that had not been part of the Department's extensive surveillance and control programme. The premises has since been restricted, bringing to twenty-three the number of premises currently under restriction. The Department has also completed a process of tracing any other horses that may have been in contact with this most recently confirmed case.

In addition to this latest case, a further three cases have also been confirmed in the past week in horses which had previously been identified as being part of a group of high-risk horses.

The Department confirmed that the EIA surveillance and control programme is continuing. It again reminded horse owners and those involved in the industry that they should continue to be vigilant and maintain high standards of biosecurity. Any horse presenting any of the clinical symptoms suggestive of EIA should immediately be blood sampled and tested for the disease. The Department appreciates the continued assistance of horse owners and others in the equine industry in its efforts to contain and eradicate the disease.

8 September, 2006
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Sep 13, 2006 - 7:17 am:

Hello Imogen,
I want to thank you for keeping us apprized of events. There are still some things we do not understand well about EIA transmission so we have much to learn from this unfortunate event. Let us know what they find about how this horse became infected.
DrO
Member:
imogen

Posted on Wednesday, Mar 21, 2007 - 4:16 pm:

?The end...?

"Minister Coughlan confirmed today that the last premises restrictions had been lifted following a lapse of more than 90 days since the last of 28 cases was confirmed on 10 December 2006. The final blood samples had been taken from those horses which remained under movement restriction and all test results had been negative for EIA.

The Minister said that since the first cases had been confirmed on 15 Jun 2006, almost 57,000 blood samples had been analysed for EIA with 28 cases having been confirmed. In this regard, the Minister expressed her appreciation to the Irish Equine Centre and her Department's Central Veterinary Research Laboratory for their excellent work in analysing such a volume of samples."

Catherine might have more to tell us but my understanding was that some of the transmission after the initial outbreak was thought to be by veterinarians and veterinary instruments, unfortunately, resulting in a huge training and awareness effort through Veterinary Ireland... Anyway let's hope it is the end.

Best wishes

Imogen
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Mar 22, 2007 - 6:47 am:

I have been following the transmission debate Imogen with interest because of the unusual features of these cases. In general it is thought the EIA organism requires injection, usually by a contaminated horse fly, to be transmitted. I understand there are some horses in this outbreak where there is no history of this type transmission. I have heard of speculation of aerosolized contaminated blood during clean up with a high pressure hose. I imagine this has everyone who works with this organism in a dither. If there is other information I would love to hear it.
DrO
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