A proposed new control program for Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA) in horses is raising concerns with horse owners.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has offered the proposal for input until June 18.
As the deadline approaches, some horse owners have voiced concerns about proposed new requirements for testing and a view that the proposal amounts to a horse traceability program for which owners will bear the cost.
“I believe this EIA program really isn’t about EIA at all. I believe it’s just a pilot program to start to implement traceability and an ID system in the horse industry,” said Cain Quam, of Quam Performance Horses based in Kendal, Sask.
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He said a traceability program would serve the slaughter horse industry by addressing European Union concerns over drug residues in horse meat it imports from Canada but would be of little benefit to recreational horse owners.
Quam also said the proposal’s mandatory testing at horse events that attract more than 200 equines would drastically reduce participation, given that the test for EIA, called the Coggins test, costs money every time it is administered.
EIA, also known as swamp fever, must be reported to officials when found, and has no cure or vaccine. It is transmitted by blood, through biting insects or needles and blood-contaminated objects. Infected horses may not show symptoms and those that do may show anorexia, depression, fever, jaundice and loss of co-ordination.
Infected horses remain so and under current regulations are either euthanized or quarantined for life. Under new proposal, quarantine would not be an option, and horses that test positive would be euthanized.
So far in 2018, four horses in Canada have tested positive on three different premises in Alberta, in Sturgeon, Strathcona and Clearwater counties, according to CFIA data. The province had nine cases last year, as did Saskatchewan. Manitoba had 17.
Since 2001, 98 percent of positive cases have occurred in the West, which is home to most of the country’s horses.
The CFIA proposes that Alberta and Saskatchewan be the primary control zone and horses moving in and out of those provinces would require permits and, in the final stage of the roll-out, would require proof of a negative EIA test.
Quam said he thinks the threat of EIA to the horse industry has been overstated.
“It’s not really as contagious as its been made out to be,” he said. “It’s really been kind of blown out of proportion.”
More horses are killed by lightning each year than are found with EIA, he added.
Even so, he questions the CFIA’s proposal to reduce its current requirements to trace horses that were in contact with any positive cases and to eliminate “cross-fence testing” of animals that were adjacent to an infected animal.
“It’s a program for optics,” he said.
In its proposal, the CFIA said it consulted with stakeholders and agreed that eradication of the disease is no longer feasible, so a control strategy is needed.
“The most significant recommendation of the working group was the unanimous support to implement mandatory testing associated with certain movements of horses in Western Canada,” the CFIA said.
Equestrian Canada offered additional explanation.
“One of the main issues has been the low volume of owner-requested testing (surveillance) among western Canada equine owners, even though many positive cases of EIA have been identified in that area,” it said in an email post.
“As a result, a key recommendation from the EIA working group was for the CFIA to develop a program that includes some mandatory EIA testing requirements for certain movements of horses in western Canada.”
The proposal and on-line response form can be found at bit.ly/2sWVp6g.
