With record-breaking low temperatures and snowfall predicted in Colorado late Wednesday through Friday, the Colorado Department of Agriculture urges animal owners to take steps to ensure the safety and wellbeing of their animals in the potentially hazardous weather conditions.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) are cautioning horse owners not to feed Top of the Rockies alfalfa cubes with the date codes 111222, 111322, 111422, 111522, and 111622. Consumers who have products marked with those date codes or who are unsure of the date code should throw them away in a secure container and follow the handling and cleaning instructions below.
The threat of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza is still fully present across Colorado and the country. With multiple new detections in Colorado over the past week, the Colorado State Veterinarian’s Office is continuing to promote biosecurity practices as the best method to prevent the introduction of the disease fatal to birds and poultry.
A three year old gelding residing in Weld County has been diagnosed with West Nile Virus (WNV) and is now recovering. The horse developed neurological symptoms in late July, including weakness, stumbling and poor muscle control. The gelding’s vaccine status is unknown. This is Colorado’s first confirmed equine WNV case in 2022.
The Colorado Department of Agriculture State Veterinarian’s Office was recently notified of an equine neurologic case in Weld county. The State Veterinarian’s Office has been collaborating with the CSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital and Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, the Colorado Horse Park, and private practicing veterinarians involved in the case.
On June 22, 2022, the Colorado Agricultural Commission met to discuss an Emergency Rule on poultry shows that is set to expire on June 30, 2022. The Commission approved the recommendation of the Commissioner of Agriculture and State Veterinarian to let the current rule expire without promulgating a follow-up emergency rule.
The Colorado State Veterinarian’s Office has received confirmation that a horse in Pueblo County tested positive for Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA). Samples from the horse initially tested positive at the Colorado State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory on June 2, 2022. A second sample was collected and the EIA-positive results were confirmed by the USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory on June 14, 2022.
The following Frequently Asked Questions about Equine Influenza were prepared by the Colorado State Veterinarian's Office. You can download a PDF of the questions and answers here.
The Colorado State Veterinarian's Office was notified on April 23 about the disease outbreak that has resulted in the death of 85 horses at the Cañon City Wild Horse and Burro Facility. The Bureau of Land Management and the US Department of Agriculture are actively investigating the incident and monitoring the wellbeing of the animals at the facility. CDA is working with the two agencies to support their response to this incident.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) has confirmed the detection of Highly Pathogenic H5N1 Avian Influenza (HPAI) virus in a mixed species backyard poultry operation in La Plata County.