Health Alert: equine pirplasmosis
Posted: December 14, 2010
Several State Departments of Agriculture have issued letters stating that any horse shipping to a racetrack and/or training facilities in the state must have a certificate showing it is negative for equine piroplasmosis.
States that are requiring a negative EP certificates are Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Iowa, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas (an incomplete list).
Equine piroplasmosis, a tick-borne non-contagious blood disease, results from infection by the protozoa Babesia caballi or Theileria equi (formerly Babesia equi). Piroplasmosis presents an acute infection, with fever, loss of appetite, malaise, labored or rapid respiration and congestion of the mucus membranes. In rare cases the disease can be fatal.
