Yesterday I braved the horrible winds and took some horses to the vet to get their blood drawn for a coggins test and to get their shots. The other day I mentioned how a horse in Montana tested positive for EIA. Well I read an article in the Billings Gazette this morning that stated that 2 horses have now tested positive.
From Billings Gazette:
BOZEMAN — The state Department of Livestock has confirmed that two horses in Gallatin County have a rare and contagious disease.
The horses tested positive for equine infectious anemia. Horses that contract the virus must be quarantined for life or euthanized.
Livestock Department spokesman Steve Merritt says investigators believe the horses contracted the disease at a recent out-of-state event. State law requires that all horses crossing into Montana be tested for the disease. One of the horses tested positive upon returning.
The Livestock Department has identified about 35 horses that may have pastured within 200 yards of the infected horses.
Merritt says he does not believe Gallatin County will have a widespread outbreak.
My friend Sara rode with yesterday and while were visiting about the purpose of our trip we both were asking the same question, and never came up with the answer. Just why is the test for EIA (swamp fever) called the Coggins test? Was the man who invented the test name Coggins? We pondered this for quite sometime. Anyone have an answer for that?
Leroy Coggins was the name of the vet who devoloped the test.
ReplyDelete