Control and eradication of EIA is possible by using a comprehensive test and slaughter policy. After 37 years of testing in the United States we are finding less than one positive equid in more than 10,000 tested; in the tested population, the risk of acquiring EIA is essentially zero. In the last three years, 416 cases were reported on 237 premises (an overall rate of 0.007%), with 104 of them on three premises. The other cases were found on 234 different premises, often with no known source for the infection determined; many of the new cases are in previously untested horses. Thus, sporadic cases are expected to be found each year with little evidence for active transmission.
Under the circumstances, many of us feel that we should devise a better strategy to find the remaining untested reservoirs, and thus reduce and ultimately eliminate the need for widespread testing. A focused active surveillance program would be more effective than our current strategy. We can save horse owners money and do a better job of finding the reservoirs of infection and we must.
Changes of surveillance strategies for EIA can only be made by the industry working with the regulators of disease in individual states. If owners made their voices heard, state rules and regulations may permit contiguous states to regionalize their efforts, reduce testing where appropriate and collaborate to do a better job of finding the untested reservoirs. The result would be more effective surveillance and control at lower cost to the industry. Momentum toward this goal is slow because of the tremendous success of the control program to date: from more than 10,000 cases each year to fewer than 200! Changes that lead to more effective control, however, are indicated and appropriate. Click here to see how the relative numbers of positive tests have changed since 1972.
Updated on: February 17, 2010