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Infectious Disease

Isolated horses offer insight into virus

October 30th, 2017

A horse stands on top of a sandy dune, his coat matted and eyelids lowered against the fierce wind. Ocean waves crash against the shoreline to his right, outlining the crescent-shaped wedge that is Sable Island, home to one of the last wild horse populations in Canada. The conditions surrounding Sable Island horses have long interested scientists, offering them a …

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Dr. Steve Manning conducts a Coggins test.

Equine infectious anemia threat for horses

Equine infectious anemia is a viral disease of horses, mules and donkeys that should be taken very seriously by owners, says a veterinary researcher. “When a horse is infected [with equine infectious anemia or EIA], it is infected for life,” says Dr. Sara Higgins. She’s a resident in large animal medicine at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) whose …

May 26th, 2015 Full story »

Horse herd in the Goodale Farm's pasture

EIA persistent equine disease in the West

The mention of equine infectious anemia (EIA) or swamp fever holds a special kind of fear for horse owners. With no vaccine and no cure for the disease, a positive diagnosis of EIA is essentially a death sentence as an affected horse must be either euthanized or quarantined for life in fly-proof facilities to avoid infecting other horses. EIA screening …

July 12th, 2012 Full story »

Rocky Mountain tick

Quick tick facts

“Know your enemy” is a well-known military maxim that’s also good advice for people on the Canadian Prairies who are seeing increasing populations of tick species in the region. Here are some quick facts about ticks and tick-borne diseases: Ticks, like spiders and mites, have eight legs in their mature form (as adults) and are members of the class Arachnida. …

May 11th, 2012 Full story »