The Coggins Test

Many people have the test performed on their horses even though the animal never leaves the farm. The test is to be done each year and is accomplished by your vet who draws blood from the horse and takes it to an approved lab. The results are returned to the vet in 2-3 days.

When the blood is drawn your vet will fill out a form which accompanies the blood sample; one copy is for the lab, one for the vet and one is returned to you. If the results are negative your horse is free to travel, be sold or whatever. If, however, the results are positive your horse, sad to say, must either be quarantined or destroyed.

The Coggins test was developed by Dr. Leroy Coggins in 1970 to detect the presence of equine infectious anemia, which is a virus transmitted frequently by insect bites, particularly mosquitoes. This virus affects all animals in the horse family, including mules, donkeys, ponies, zebras and so on.