01/28/2025
The following alert has been posted to the CDFA Equine Infectious Anemia webpage https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/ahfss/Animal_Health/EquineInfectiousAnemia.html:
January 23, 2025: A 10–year–old Quarter Horse gelding in San Bernardino County was confirmed positive for Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA). A confirmed EIA positive equid must be euthanized or quarantined for life 200 yards away from any EIA negative equid as per USDA EIA program rules. Euthanasia was elected for these cases and witnessed on January 20th. Eighteen (18) potentially exposed horses on the home premises have initially tested negative for EIA and will remain under quarantine until their sixty (60) day retest.
Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA) is a viral disease of all equidae. It can be tested for by either the agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID), commonly known as the “Coggins” test, or the enzyme-link immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The ELISA tends to be slightly less expensive and can have a shorter turn-around time for results making it a popular choice for EIA testing. However, the ELISA can also produce false positive results. In the past year in California, there have been eleven (11) of these false positive ELISAs. Any horse with a non-negative ELISA test must be quarantined until confirmatory AGID results are received from the National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL), which commonly takes a week or more. Always remember to plan ahead for EIA testing and either submit an AGID test or allow for extra time, so if there is a non-negative ELISA sample and a horse must be quarantined, that it doesn’t delay any travel or show plans. EIA tests are valid for twelve (12) months in most states, including California.
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