What is Coggins disease, how is it spread, and why test horses?

This is going to depend on where you live, and what infectious diseases are considered "quarantinable" in your country. I live in the US, and here these are the infectious diseases that we have to report to the USDA if we suspect a horse is infected. Ones that come to mind include Equine Infectious Anemia, Vesicular Stomatitis, Foot and Mouth Disease, and the neurologic form of Equine Herpes Virus. Hope that helps!

Heart worms can be detected through a blood test that can be done at a veterinarian’s office. Heart worms are transmitted by mosquitoes...a mosquito harboring a life stage of the heartworm will transmit it to a dog by biting it. It is not passed from dog to dog through casual contact. Heartworm disease is easily prevented, so if your veterinarian can test your dog and he is negative....there are a number of heartworm preventative products available through your veterinarian. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach

It is potentially possible for you to transport infections on clothing or equipment but general hygiene and washing of hands/clothing between groups of horses makes this less likely. Many infections are readily spread amongst horses and i would not recommend mixing them directly until he has been fully vaccinated

Hello. Exposure to the infection may result in a positive PCR test, but does not mean the horse is an active shedder. There could still be dead bacteria present for a long time, which will still be PCR positive but they are not shedding live, viable bacteria that can infect another horse. To blame one horse over another is pretty silly, especially if the PCR positive pony has ever lived anywhere else. This may be something to discuss with your veterinarian who might suggest doing some nasal cultures, but if your animals have always been healthy, then it is up to the stud owner to pay for the testing. Otherwise, I really do not know what they hope to accomplish by blaming your horses. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

I'm sorry for your frustration, but there may be a solution. Most veterinarians use the Antibody test to detect Ehrlichia. Even with treatment, your dog may show a positive test for months or up to a year as the antibody is still being detected. In order to more accurately test if your dog has the disease, the newer blood test called a PCR assay can be submitted. This tests specifically for presence of the organism , not the antibodies. Please speak with your veterinarian about doing a different test as you may wait a very long time for the antibody test to be negative. I'm sure the newer test is probably more expensive, so be prepared to ask about the cost. Best of luck!

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It does look a lot like hives in your horse here. Most presentations like this are allergic in origin-finding out what the reaction to is the key to prevention. Has your mate been given any drugs like banamine or antibiotics that she is not accustomed to recently? Have you changed feed or flysprays? Certain types of fly bites can cause break outs like this as well. By the time my patients are bad enough for hives I'll generally recommend an intravenous dosage of a steroid to counter the inflammation-this should be administered by your veterinarian-who can do a physical exam while they are there to make sure the heart and lungs also sounds ok. I hope this helps!

If Buddy was already treated for me canines and is clinically normal right now I would not worry about a positive test result. You can discuss with his vet but many tests are for antibodies to the disease. Which will still be circulating in the blood from the initial infection. It does not necessarily mean there is an active infection at this time.