EIA Positive Leads to Arapahoe Quarantine

Arapahoe Park in Colorado said has enacted a quarantine in response to a positive test for equine infectious anemia discovered in a non-racing horse in the track's barn area.

EIA is a viral disease spread by biting flies such as horse flies or deer flies that only affects equines. Horses must have a Coggins test each year prior to traveling between states.

According to the Colorado Department of Agriculture, the horse in question has been in Colorado less than 60 days and came from an out-of-state racetrack.

"It appears that the horse was infected prior to coming to Colorado and previously tested negative for the disease in May of 2015," the department said in a release. "Because the disease is most commonly spread by biting flies and it is very early in Colorado's fly season, the risk of disease transmission to other horses at the track appears to be relatively low."

Arapahoe Park, in cooperation with the Colorado and United States agriculture departments and the Colorado Division of Racing Events, placed the horse with the positive Coggins test in isolation and has quarantined the facility. No horse will be allowed to enter or leave Arapahoe Park until the quarantine is lifted, officials said, but racing is scheduled to proceed with horses already stabled there.

"We are trying to be as proactive as possible to make sure this remains an isolated case," Arapahoe Park executive director Bruce Seymore said.