John Holland checks out as the owner of a horse named Whisper and some kind of a horse activist. He isn't a vet and hasn't apparently sought the normal line of investigation/notification with state and county agricultural labs. I doubt this is a "test run" of any kind. When the big guns in commercial agricultural/veterinary medicine raise a red flag, it will be worthy of further consideration.
did you see this? We've long suspected they would try to get to our food sources, especially through animals and we buy so much from stupid Canada!
EQUINE INFECTIOUS ANEMIA - CANADA (BRITISH COLUMBIA)
A ProMED-mail post
A potentially fatal virus disease affecting horses has been detected in the valley. Veterinarian Tom Vogel had been called in to test a horse headed to Vancouver Island last week. The horse tested positive for Equine Infectious Anemia, otherwise known as Swamp Fever [A very old name for this disease. It is transmitted by biting flies and
mosquitoes, and so there were probably higher rates of transmission in swamps. Equine Infectious Anemia is often referred to as EIA. - Mod.PC]
The virus poses no threat to human health, but is often fatal in horses. The disease is often said to be like Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in horses. [The EIA virus is a slow-acting virus of the lenti-retrovirus group. Retroviruses cause leukemia in cats, mice,
and cattle; arthritis, pneumonia, and neurologic diseases in small ruminants; and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in humans, hence the common reference to human AIDS. - Mod.PC]
"Sometimes you see very acute symptoms -- fever, anorexia, depression, muscle weakness, wasting, severe anemia -- and the animal will die. Other times you'll see animals that will carry this virus for a long period of time and
not show any symptoms," said Vogel. Vogel confirmed that a federal veterinarian visited the site and quarantined a number of herds. There are a significant number of animals in quarantine in McBride and in Crescent Spur, he said. "One of the farms currently under quarantine belongs to Phillip Marsh in McBride. He said that the affected horse had been boarding at his residence for some time. There was a horse that had swamp fever, but it wasn't here at the time, he said. Marsh owns his horses and boards horses for others."
Equine infectious anemia is a reportable disease under the Health of Animals Act. [EIA is an OIE list B disease; these are considered to be of socio-economic and/or public health importance, are significant in the international trade of animals and animal products, but do not have the same potential for particularly rapid spread and serious animal or public health consequences as List A diseases. - Mod.PC]
All suspected cases must be reported to the CFIA and require immediate investigation by agency inspectors. If an animal tests positive, the premises are quarantined and all horses that have been in contact with the infected animal in the past 30 days are tested. Horses testing positive must be destroyed or permanently isolated.
Owners receive compensation for horses destroyed.