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. 2019 Nov;60(11):1199-1206.

Disease investigations for equine infectious anemia in Canada (2009-2012) - Retrospective evaluation and risk factor analysis

Katharina L Lohmann  1 , Carolyn R James  1 , Sara N Higgins  1 , Krista J Howden  1 , Tasha Epp  1
Affiliations

Disease investigations for equine infectious anemia in Canada (2009-2012) - Retrospective evaluation and risk factor analysis

Katharina L Lohmann et al. Can Vet J. 2019 Nov.

Abstract
in English, French

This retrospective study describes the detection of equine infectious anemia (EIA) during Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) disease investigations in Canada, examines aspects of importance for disease control, and evaluates potential animal-level risk factors for EIA in high-risk horses. Based on review of all EIA-positive samples and all samples collected during disease investigations (N = 4553) over a 4-year period (2009 to 2012), 409 EIA cases were detected. Horse owners with EIA cases owned between 1 and 60 affected animals, and 49 horses seroconverted during a disease investigation period. Twenty-nine percent of cases (n = 68) for which this information was available had, or possibly had, clinical signs of EIA. Using a mixed effects logistic regression model, horses in older age groups were at greater odds of having a positive EIA status. The study emphasizes the importance of disease investigation activities when EIA is detected and identifies age as an animal-level risk factor in high-risk horses.

Enquêtes médicales pour l’anémie infectieuse équine au Canada (2009–2012) – Évaluation rétrospective et analyse des facteurs de risques. Cette étude rétrospective décrit la détection de l’anémie infectieuse équine (EIA) durant les enquêtes médicales de l’Agence canadienne d’inspection des aliments (CFIA) au Canada, examine les aspects importants pour la maitrise de la maladie, et évalue les facteurs de risque potentiels au niveau des animaux pour l’EIA chez les chevaux à risque élevé. Sur la base d’une revue de tous les échantillons positifs pour l’EIA et tous les échantillons prélevés durant les enquêtes (N = 4553) pendant une période de 4 ans (2009–2012), 409 cas d’EIA furent détectés. Les propriétaires de chevaux avec EIA possédaient entre 1 et 60 animaux affectés, et 49 chevaux ont séro-converti durant une période d’enquête. Vingt-neuf pourcents des cas (n = 68) pour lesquels l’information était disponible avaient, ou avaient possiblement eu, des signes cliniques d’EIA. Utilisant un modèle de régression logistique à effets mixtes, les chevaux des groupes d’animaux plus âgés étaient à plus grand risque d’avoir un statut positif pour l’EIA. Cette étude fait ressortir l’importance des activités d’enquêtes médicales lorsque l’EIA est détectée et identifie l’âge comme étant un facteur de risque au niveau de l’animal chez les chevaux à risque élevé.(Traduit par Dr Serge Messier).

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Overview of the protocol for equine infectious anemia (EIA) testing in Canada. Solid arrows represent a non-negative (cELISA) or positive (AGID) result, and dashed arrows represent a negative test result. For the few samples that have non-definitive AGID results, further testing, and possibly sampling, is performed as per established protocol. cELISA — competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; AGID — agar-gel immunodiffusion; CFIA — Canadian Food Inspection Agency; EIA neg — negative for EIA; EIA pos — positive for EIA (EIA case).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Flow diagram showing the process of moving from sample-level information to horse-level information for the purposes of risk factor analysis. *Some samples (n = 718) were tested by both cELISA and AGID and only the AGID result was retained.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Location of cases of equine infectious anemia (EIA) identified during disease investigations from 2009 to 2012 (n = 409). The symbols indicate the postal codes at which at least 1 EIA case was located. Most EIA positives (n = 397) were located in western provinces (YT, BC, AB, SK) while 12 EIA positives were located in the East (QC). Also see Table 1.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Age as a significant risk factor for EIA (P = 0.0002) based on logistic regression analysis using a mixed effects model and accounting for clustering of horses by owner. The predicted probabilities of EIA cases within the various age categories are shown. Categories with different superscript letters differ significantly from each other. Data are based on 2011 horses of high risk, for which the age at last testing could be identified.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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