CAMERON  VETERINARY

The Coggins test, named for its inventor, tests for Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA), a viral infection of horses. EIA is a retrovirus, similar to HIV in that once an animal is infected; the virus cannot be cleared from the body. Horses are infected by contact with infected blood from another horse, usually via biting insects. Most horses do not show signs of illness for a long period after infection.

Horses with a positive Coggins test are examined by the USDA Veterinary Services, retested and, if confirmed positive, euthanized or quarantined for life.

Although not a common disease, EIA is found throughout the United States, and reservoirs of infection exist in many of the wild horse and burro populations. The discovery of an infected horse at the Ruidoso Downs racetrack in southern New Mexico in 2007 heightened our awareness of this disease and its risk to our horses.