Horse industry does battle with Coggins disease
By STEFANI G. KOPENEC
Associated Press Writer
PARIS, Texas (AP) - The news just keeps getting worse for Woody Wilson. After destroying dozens of horses because they tested positive for Coggins disease, another one got "hot."
"I've raised horses for 30 years and this Coggins thing in two years has brought me down from 40 brood mares to four to three now," he said.
The 55-year-old roofing company owner thinks he might have to abandon the hobby he's enjoyed for decades. He says he's lost nearly $60,000 because of Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA) and the state's efforts to control it.
"It ain't the money, it's the horses," Wilson said, wiping away tears as he explained what bothers him most. "I can live without the money. ... They put me out of something I loved to do, just put me out. Everybody has to have a pastime and horses were mine."
While some in the horse industry have asked state regulators to do more to protect them from the incurable viral infection, not everyone is pleased with the rules requiring testing and record-keeping that were adopted after years of debate.
"This has been a long, arduous trip. It's not a Johnny jump-up sort of affair," said Dr. Max Coats Jr., a veterinarian and epidemiologist with the Texas Animal Health Commission.
EIA, better known as swamp fever or Coggins, is spread by blood-to-blood contact - typically when a horsefly bites an infected equine and then moves on to a "clean" one. Besides horses, the disease also affects mules, donkeys and zebras.
Of 26,113 animals tested in Texas in January, 74 were EIA-infected. During this fiscal year - from Sept. 1 to Feb. 18 - 198 equine tested positive for the disease, mostly in Southeast Texas. Infected animals also were found in Lamar and Red River counties in Northeast Texas.
The state began working on EIA regulations in the early 1990s. In January 1997, animal health commissioners asked producers to voluntarily comply with the rules they had adopted.
Already, TAHC has pushed back compliance and enforcement activities from May to July. In addition, an ad hoc committee has been appointed to assess and reconsider the regulations, particularly the rule requiring a test for equine being sold.
"The TAHC commissioners want to ensure that the regulations are fair and do not cause undue hardship on any segment of the equine industry," said Dr. Terry Beals, veterinarian and the agency's executive director.
Wilson is among those who thinks the rules "stink."
"The only way we're going to do this, they need to make the law right for everybody, test every horse in the state of Texas or throw it out the door, forget it," he said.
Coats acknowledges that some in the horse business, particularly sales operators, are likely subjected to more regulation than private individuals.
"If you are operating a market I know where you are," he said. "If you just happen to have a horse in your yard and decide to sell it some day, I don't have a clue."
Curtis McDaniel, who owns Paris Horse Auction and believes his business has been damaged, said horse owners aren't against controlling Coggins.
But, he added, "We're not in favor of having a police force dictate to us how we're going to do our business and run our business."
Beverly Grimsley, who owns a sale barn in Cleburne, GLG Livestock Co., supports current EIA regulations.
"It's necessary. It needs to be done," she said. "The only other thing I think they ought to do is every horse ought to be tested when it hits the sale barn."
Currently, testing is required within 12 months prior to a horse being sold. A similar test is mandated for equine participating in trail rides, shows, fairs, rodeos or exhibitions. Dealers also must keep records on equine that are bought and sold.
If an animal tests positive, it must be quarantined (kept at least 200 yards from other equine), sent to slaughter or to a research facility. A quarantine is also placed on any other equine the person owns so that they can be tested in not less than 60 days.
Wilson and McDaniel complain that a number of horses that appear healthy are being slaughtered.
"What we're doing is killing a lot of people's horses for the sake of some people's jobs in the state of Texas," McDaniel said, explaining that a national campaign to eradicate Brucellosis, a bacterial disease of cattle, is nearing completion.
Coats, who said his agency is not out looking for work, said if an animal is diagnosed with Coggins it's a lifelong carrier. There are no good estimates on the number of equine that get the acute form of the disease, which includes fever, dramatic weight loss or swelling around the chest and legs.
"In trying to control the disease there is not much more you can do except permanently quarantine them or have them put down humanely," he said.
Some facts about Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA), better known as swamp fever or Coggins:
WHAT IT IS: Coggins is an incurable viral infection spread by blood-to-blood contact. Most often, disease transmission occurs when biting flies carry fresh blood on their mouth parts from an infected equine to a "clean" animal. Medical instruments and needles contaminated with the virus can also transmit the disease to clean animals.
LIKELY VICTIMS: Horses, mules, donkeys and zebras.
REACTION: About one-third to one-half develop clinical symptoms and suffer from fever, dramatic weight loss or swelling around the chest and legs. Some die. Others will demonstrate no symptoms and are referred to as "inapparent carriers." In some cases, chronically infected equine display a variety of symptoms when subjected to work, stress or travel, but they may recover when allowed to rest. Most of these animals will be unable to regain or sustain their original performance levels.
HOW WIDESPREAD: Of 26,113 animals tested in Texas in January, 74 were found to be EIA-infected. During this fiscal year - from Sept. 1 to Feb. 18 - 198 equine tested positive for the disease in Texas. Harris County had 22 infected equine; Hardin County, 21; Jefferson and Lamar counties, 14 each; Montgomery and Brazoria counties, 8 each; Red River County, 6; Smith County, 5; Liberty, Fort Bend, Tyler and Wharton counties, 4 each.
WHAT NEXT: Owners of EIA-infected equine can keep the infected animal under permanent quarantine, at least 200 yards away from all other equine; send the infected animal to slaughter, a research facility or approved clinic; or have the equine humanely euthanized.
Source: Texas Animal Health Commission