On November 24, 2022, positive equine infectious anemia (EIA) results were confirmed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) national reference laboratory for a horse located on a premises in Two Hills County, Alberta. The owner had requested a veterinarian test the horse, which had been purchased from the Fort Assiniboine area in northwest Alberta earlier this year, for EIA as part of a requirement for export to the US. No clinical signs of disease were noted by the veterinarian at the time of sampling.
Initial reports indicate there are other equines on the affected premises. A CFIA investigation is underway and movement controls have been placed on the infected horse and any on-premises contact animals which will remain until all disease response activities have been completed. These include follow-up testing and ordering the destruction of confirmed cases.
EIA is a viral disease that attacks horses’ immune systems. There is no vaccine and no cure; a horse diagnosed with the disease dies, or is euthanized, or must be placed under extremely strict quarantine conditions for the rest of its life. Read more about the disease on the EIA factsheet here.
