Swamp fever struck hard April 27 near Meadow Lake, Sask., and Tricia Kroeker faced the wrenching task of euthanizing 10 of her horses.
“This year was every horse owner’s worst nightmare,” said Kroeker.
Her herd underwent Coggins testing after a horse sold from her farm last fall tested positive for equine infectious anemia (EIA), also known as swamp fever.
Kroeker tests frequently, but she didn’t anticipate the dire results. There were no signs to suggest any of her horses, let alone so many, were affected.
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However, absence of symptoms is common when horses test positive for EIA.
Kroeker is waiting for her remaining horses to return home. They are under precautionary quarantine imposed by Canadian Food Inspection Agency regulations.
The CFIA is responsible for response and recovery of all positive EIA cases and can also investigate, euthanize and provide compensation.
EIA is an incurable viral equine disease, and there is no vaccine to prevent it. It is transmitted through blood, milk and bodily secretions.
Blood sucking insects are the usual method of transmission. A horse fly or deer fly can hold the virus up to four hours and pass it horse to horse.
A horse becomes a carrier for life once it contracts EIA and can put others at risk.
It manifests in three types: acute, subacute and chronic. Most horses remain asymptomatic, but others will suffer from fever, anemia, jaundice and swelling of the underside and legs.
“I want mandatory testing because if we don’t screen all the owned horses, we’re never going to get it under control,” Kroeker said.
The CFIA keeps track of all cases and reports a downward trend in Western Canada since 2011.
Saskatchewan fell from 102 of 179 western Canadian cases in 2011 to 31 of 80 cases in 2015.
The Saskatchewan Horse Federation believes testing is the best way to keep the disease from spreading.
“It will never be eradicated, but it can be brought more under control,” said chair Doug Howe.
The federation passed a motion in March to require mandatory EIA testing of all horses that attend SHF-sanctioned events, effective Jan. 1, 2017.
“That’s the mandate of our membership, and our job as the board of directors is to implement it to the best of our ability, and we will be working at that,” said Howe.
The SHF also developed education seminars about EIA, and five have been held.
“We are as aggressive as we can be and we’ll see if we’ll be ongoing, because we need the manpower and finances to do that. It was a big drive to bring it to the forefront,” he said.
Howe and Kroeker said they would also like more CFIA involvement. The EIA control program is part voluntary testing by the industry and part veterinarian response through the CFIA.
The first EIA control program began in 1972, and the level of government involvement has varied since then.
Dr. Leroy Coggins developed the first reliable test in the 1970s, which could identify carriers. The Coggins test is still used today and can determine if EIA antibodies are present.
C-ELISA (competitive enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay) is a newer test, but it has reported false-positive outcomes. In Canada, a positive c-ELISA result is confirmed using a standard Coggins test.
Owners are issued a negative EIA test certificate once the results are in and positive tests are reported to CFIA.
“People need to understand that not testing turns your horses into Schrodinger’s cat; they are simultaneously alive and dead. People are scared of what they don’t understand,” said Kroeker.
She attended one of SHF’s education seminars and urges horse owners to get more involved. Lack of knowledge has dire consequences.
“It should be an animal welfare thing. It’s a basic medical necessity,” Kroeker said.
- EIA Fact Sheet, Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, agriculture.gov.sk.ca
- EIA Fact Sheet, EIA Control Program and PremisesInfected with EIA, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, inspection.gc.ca
- EIA: The Only Protection is Prevention, American Association of Equine Practitioners, aaep.org
- Equine infectious anemia threat for horses, Townsend Equine Health Research Fund, ehrf.usask.ca
