XL Vets equine factsheets

Equine Infectious Anaemia (EIA) also called “swamp fever” is a viral disease transmitted from infected to non-infected horses by biting flies e.g. horse flies and via infected blood and blood products including contaminated needles and syringes. The disease is not currently in the UK but is circulating in Europe in particular Italy and Romania. There was a significant outbreak of EIA in Ireland in 2006 following the introduction of the virus in imported blood products. More recently in England in 2010 and 2012 cases were identified in horses that had been imported previously