[Equine Infectious Anaemia - a review from an official veterinary perspective]

Equine infectious anaemia (EIA) is a sporadic viral disease in many countries. Every single case has, however, a dramatic impact: infected animals have to be put down, and quarantine restrictions on horse movements lasting three months lead to substantial economic losses. In Switzerland, the mandatory notification was introduced in 1994 in order to facilitate international traffic. A year later, the "new" Ordinance on epizootics of 1995 classified EIA as a "disease to be eradicated". An infected polo horse in the canton of Argovia in summer 2017 thus represented Switzerland's first official case. It served as a starting point to review the legal frameworks of the EU and Switzerland. Recent publications suggest that there might be some potential to optimize the current diagnostic protocols. EIA is transmitted by virus-containing blood and blood products. Introductions in previously disease-free regions are mostly due to human activities, while blood feeding insects as horse flies or other biting flies act as mechanical vectors only locally within some 100 meters. As before, the new EU Regulations governing animal health do not prescribe national monitoring and control plans, allowing member states to shape them according to their particular situation. However, they have to ensure that equids intended for intracommunity movements comply with specific guarantees. In this context, a fine-tuning of current international standards seems conceivable. Mandatory testing preceding each movement would not be a proportionate option even for the future. Regardless their final wording, it would be a great step for all the actors involved in animal traffic if it were possible to adopt rules that are accepted and uniformly implemented by all competent authorities at national, regional and local level. However, the official system will never be able to guarantee absolute safety. Since there are neither effective vaccines nor treatment protocols, it is crucial that all owners, stablehands, veterinarians, associations, and organizers of horse contests are aware of the disease risks, minimizing them as far as possible by adequate biosecurity measures.