Coggins test (20 characters -.-)?

Question

Coggins test (20 characters -.-)?

Answer 1

Most of your answers are right in all aspects and they tell exactly what the test is and the reason they are all pretty good answers . The only exception i take is the COGGINS was patented and invented and patented by a old friend and colleague of mine Dr. Leroy Coggins hence the name in 1970 in Kentucky. This procedure is not recognized in many states and countries it is soley up to the governing body of the Agriculture Ministry .What i advise to horse owners is every few years ask your Vet to do a Full Blood Count on your animal this with prevent and show all the right indications how his or hers system is working. Starlight 1 you should do your homework on things

Answer 2

Well a coggins test is only if you are going out of the country and also some countrys u do not need it... So Ya and alot of time it deppends on what dissaplin of ridding u r doing.

Answer 3

EIA stands for Equine Infectious Anemia, which is sometimes also called "swamp fever" because it is transmitted by mosquitoes. It's a viral disease which directly impacts the central nervous system of the horse, in addition to causing a fatal anemia. Horses with EIA often exhibit symptoms which can mimic those of sleeping sickness- tremors, high fever, staggering, lack of appetite, exhaustion, and sometimes, seizures. But not all horses show signs of this disease when they get it- and still others will get the infection, appear to recover from it, and become carriers of it. EIA is contagious to the point where it is dangerous. Once an outbreak gets started, it will spread like wildfire. That's why ALL states mandate that horses who test positive for the virus be destroyed immediately. There's no cure for EIA, and no real treatment for it either.



The Coggins test is a blood titer which detects the EIA virus. It was invented in the 1940's by a vet at Cornell University in New York, and is named for him. Most major competitive organizations, such as the USEF, USDF, the Pony Club and so forth generally REQUIRE that all horses which compete be tested annually for EIA using this test. Many breed registries, such as the Jockey Club, the AQHA, the IAHA, and The Morgan Horse Association also require proof of negative Coggins tests before horses can compete at their shows. In addition, anywhere that mosquitoes are prevelant is a place where horses need to be tested at least once a year. This includes the American Deep South, the southwest, and tropical places such as Hawaii. We can only control EIA through testing, and through destruction of any horses which test positive. That sounds sad, I know, but the alternative is letting the disease run rampant and destroy whole populations of horses. There have been times when this has happened at places like racetracks, where there are large populations of horses coming and going all the time. In such cases, it's easy for a carrier horse to go unnoticed, because such horses often have no symptoms. But when they get bitten by mosquitoes, and the mosquitoes who bit the infected horses then bite horses which aren't sick, the disease spreads rapidly. That's why all racetracks also require Coggins testing. EIA is harmless to people- we are immune to it. But it's devastating to horses. Nobody knows where the disease came from.

Answer 4

Others have explained EIA really well, as far as being curious about the Coggins:



A Coggins test is "good" for 6 mo to a year as far as going to shows, traveling with your horse, etc. However, the test itself only says whether or not your horse was infected with EIA the very date he was tested. He could contract the disease the day after, and the test results wouldn't show that. Hence, it is pretty much pointless. If you don't plan on showing or going anywhere with your horse, there is really no need to pay for the test.



The list of serious diseases or disorders a horse could contract is as long as the list for how many diseases and disorders a person could have. A few more common ones you might want to learn about are colic, Potomac, Strangles, EPM, laminitis and Navicular (not all of these are contagious).

Answer 5

EIA or swamp fever is a disease that is Reportable to Agriculture Canada.

It is a viral disease that is transmitted by blood sucking insects, contaminated body fluids and used needles. If your horse is tested positive for EIA, it must be destroyed immediately, it is against the law not to.



For many shows you would have to get a coggins test, which proves that your horse does not hav EIA.

Answer 6

EIA in an infectious anemia, highly contagious and requires the horse to be euthanized in most states. The Coggins identifies the disease in the animal, is required to be performed annually. Any horse that is to be transported is required to have a copy of the negative Coggins with the horse during transportation.



There are many serious diseases related to horses. Many are transmitted by flying insects with multiple intermediate hosts like birds and opossums, etc. Thus the importance of immunizations in horses. In my state, we immunize twice yearly because of increased risk factors. Horses are effected by many different types of neurological diseases and various types of encephalitis, etc. This is a lengthy subject, more than can be adequately explained in this medium. If you are a horse owner, this information is basic necessary knowledge that one should have. Neurological diseases in horses are horrifying to observe and usually results in a poor outcome. If possible, prevention is the preferred route to seek.

Answer 7

EIA in the horse world stands for Equine Infectious Anemia.

In the science world it stands for Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (called EIA or ELISA)



A specific type of retrovirus called a lentivirus causes the disease and there's no vaccine. Since it's so infectious, horses with it need to be destroyed in many states. Some allow the horse to be quarantined for life in an approved facility.



The test works by detecting antibodies present in your horses bloodstream to the pathogen. Coincidentally the test for EIA is performed by EIA. Kind of a strange coincidence. Confirmatory tests are done by other more sensitive methods for specific antibody detection like Agar immunodiffusion, western blot and more.



Add--http://asci.uvm.edu/equine/law/horselaw/eia.htm

Here's a good description especially of the law and requirements to do testing. The requirement to euthanize or quarantine is also discussed.



A second addition--the DonBlazer link you have above does contain some misinformation about how infectious this is horse to horse. DonBlazer seems to think that once the acute phase of the infection is over and the infected horse recovers that he cannot infect other horses. That is wrong. This person is obviously not a virologist or scientist and does not understand how a retrovirus replicates and remains in the bloodstream for life in the latent stage. While the horse is not infectious from the aspect of the horse cannot directly infect another horse through normal contact, they are still infectious through direct personal body fluid to body fluid contact (blood and saliva) and via vector animals like mosquitos or bloodsucking insects.



This is why someone with HIV is infectious the rest of their life, the retrovirus remains in the latent or chronic state. HIV is unusual in just how extremely fragile it is. HIV is so fragile that it is not transmitted by bug bites. But EIA is not that fragile. EIA is transmitted by bug bites for a short time after the bug sips blood from the host so that is why horses have to be euthanized or quarantined. Or herpes virus is another example. Once you have it you have it for life and can enter infectious periods over and over again.



And, the Coggins test originally did refer to the AGID (agar gel immuno diffusion) method developed by Dr. Coggins. It wasn't until about this timeframe that lab tests were getting much better specificity. DonBlazer was probably reacting to some of the "old school" hype of horses who had false positives by ELISA and were destroyed when perhaps they didn't need to be. That is why the AGID was developed, as a better more specific test. Every assay we use has a certain false positive and false negative rate. These are called the assay specificity and sensitivity. I could go on and on but realize most people just aren't interested in all this science speak and just want a basic understanding. But not lab test is perfect and there was a period especially during outbreaks where many valuable horses were destroyed (and some not necessarily). Today many use the term Coggins to refer to any lab test for EIA. Similar to how our culture has taken the word kleenex to describe any facial tissue. If your horse tests positive for EIA immediately quarantine him and demand a retest. Ask your vet to recommend another vet known for experience with infectious diseases and then ask that specialist for the best lab to perform the retest and by what method.



Not sure if all this extra information helps or just confuses. At some point we read and say TMI --enough already !!!!