EQUINE INFECTIOUS ANEMIA

(EIA) also called swamp fever viral disease of horses. Symptoms, which appear about two weeks after exposure, include fever and rapid breathing; the animal shifts its weight from one leg to another because of weakness during an attack. An attack lasts three to five days. In the chronic form the fever recurs at intervals that vary from days to months. The affected animal is apt to have a shaggy coat, to be thin, weak, and sluggish, and to have legs swollen with dropsy. An asymptomatic animal may carry the virus. Human infection, although rare, has been reported.