Coggins?

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MULDOON

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I'm aware that west nile virus is transmitted by mosquitos , and possibly birds.
My question is how is Coggins transmitted, I am assuming that it is transfered by horses because of Animals having to be quarentined.
Thanks fior taking the time to read this, :lol:
 
MULDOON":2boc0gsc said:
I'm aware that west nile virus is transmitted by mosquitos , and possibly birds.
My question is how is Coggins transmitted, I am assuming that it is transfered by horses because of Animals having to be quarentined.
Thanks fior taking the time to read this, :lol:

After we talked about this at shindig this weekend I had go and look it it up. I just couldn't remember as I haven't owned any horses for over thirty years.
This is what I found.
TRANSMISSION
Recently we have learned more about the transmission of this disease. The disease is spread by horseflies. The large horsefly is the main vector. If they bite an infected horse and then bite a healthy horse, the disease gets transmitted. The virus does not live for very long on the horsefly, maybe as little as fifteen or thirty minutes. So for one horse to infect another they must be close to each other. This disease occurs anywhere horseflies live.
 
I think you can also have a problem with an infected horse biting your horse,mosquitoes,ticks,lice or used tack that isn't cleaned properly-like a bit you swap for at a tack sale. Same with vet or dental equipment used on other horses-if it is used on a carrier there is some risk. Don't remember how long the virus will live on those surfaces. Probably not a long time,but don't know. Maybe Vickie the Vet will help us out. Or ask your vet the next time you see them at the neighbors. :lol:
 
Coggins is not the name of the disease. Coggins is the name of the test used to look for the disease in a horse. The actual disease is EIA = Equine Infectious Anemia.

I believe the reason the horsefly is suspected of being the primary vector is that its bite is big and it transmits a large amount of infectious material in one bite. There is a much greater transmission of blood in the bite of a horsefly. Is it that the infectious matter doesn't live long in the fly, or is it because the fly doesn't roam very far, thus most horses infected are in fairly close proximity to each other? I believe it's the latter.
 

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