On Sept. 27, 2019, a positive Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA) result was confirmed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s national reference laboratory for a pony located on a premises in Thorhild County in the province of Alberta.
The pony had been sampled by an accredited veterinarian to fulfill a condition of sale and prior to it being moved to a new premises. The seller had only owned the pony for a few weeks and no clinical signs of disease were noted at the time of sampling.
A CFIA investigation is underway and as per program policy, movement controls have been placed on the infected pony and its on-premises contacts. Initial reports indicate there are several equines on the affected premises.
Movement controls will remain until all disease response activities have been completed, including follow-up testing and ordering the destruction of positive cases. Trace-out activities may require the CFIA to undertake actions at additional premises as outlined in the current policy.
Please refer to the CFIA EIA website for a map of current cases. Additional information about the specific location of cases cannot be released.
The Canadian Animal Health Surveillance System Disease Alert Notifications provide important and comprehensive information on the disease while respecting the privacy of the individuals involved in accordance with Canadian privacy acts. No further information is available at this time. Additional information may be posted when available.
