Horse Farm Quarantined for EIA Case

Chris Torres
Staff Writer

A farm in southern Lancaster County was quarantined on Dec. 31 after state animal health officials determined it was the farm where a pony that later tested for equine infectious anemia (EIA)  in New Jersey had been housed.

Craig Shultz, director of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Animal Health, said all horses at the farm, which he did not identify because of an investigation that is still ongoing, will be quarantined for at least 45 days, per USDA regulations, to allow for the disease to go through its incubation period. The animals will then be tested for the disease.

If any other animal is found to have EIA, Shultz said the owner of the farm will have a choice of either having it permanently quarantined or euthanized.

EIA, also known as swamp fever, is usually passed to a horse after it is bitten by a large insect such as a horsefly or deerfly.

It can be spread from horse to horse if the insect feeds on other horses.

In cannot be spread by casual contact between horses.

A blood transfusion or contaminated needle can also spread the disease.

There is no treatment for the disease and symptoms can include yellowing of skin tissue, anemia, fever, and rejecting feed.

There were four cases of EIA in Pennsylvania in 2009, according to Shultz. One case involved a farm in Warren County. Another case involved two horses from a separate farm that later died while in quarantine.

The pony, according to Shultz, was picked up by a New Jersey-based equine rescue group in late December after its owner attempted to sell it at a livestock auction in Lancaster County, but it was deemed "unsalable" because it was in poor condition.

The department was notified on Dec. 22 that the pony had tested positive for EIA. Shultz said he believes the pony was transported to New Jersey the same day or the day before the department was notified.

According to the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Web site, New Holland Sales Stable is the county's only livestock auction that handles equine.

However, Shultz said he "wasn't sure" which auction in the county actually housed the animal before the group picked it up.

Shultz said the department is now working on tracing back the animal's origin, but he said it will be challenging because horses are typically not identified with eartags or permanent ID, such as cows or other livestock.

"Tracing equine can be very difficult. We do the best we can," Shultz said.

The four EIA cases, he added, are about average the amount of cases that are reported each year.