BROOMFIELD – The Colorado Department of Agriculture is working to quarantine nearly 250 horses that may have come in contact with a Weld County horse infected with Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA).
Authorities said they looked through records and determined approximately 240 horses came in contact with the animal. They said about 100 of those horses were sent to 20 other states across the country and people are working to locate those horses and quarantine them.
According to the USDA, the virus can be fatal. Infected horses often show signs that they’re sick by having a fever, appearing lethargic, losing weight, displaying swelling under the skin and showing petechial hemorrhages.
The virus produces its own DNA, which is incorporated into infected cells, causing red corpuscle counts in horses to drop rapidly. The USDA also said one-fifth of a teaspoon of infected blood from a horse showing acute symptoms contains enough bacteria to infect 1 million horses. No treatment or vaccine exists to treat the disease.
According to the Department of Agriculture, no horses that have come in contact with the infected one have tested positive for EIA. The infected horse tested positive on Aug. 24, 2018.
