The Coggins test is used to diagnose which disease?

• A. Baylisascaris infection
• B. Pemphigus
• C. Equine infectious anemia
• D. ITP

Answer: (C)

The main concept is detecting exposure to a specific horse virus in the bloodstream. The Coggins test is an agar gel immunodiffusion assay that looks for antibodies against equine infectious anemia virus in a horse’s serum. A positive result means the horse has been exposed to or infected with EIAV, the agent that causes equine infectious anemia, a serious viral disease transmitted mainly by blood-feeding insects and with no vaccine. Because many jurisdictions require this test for travel or show entry, knowing that it targets EIAV antibodies helps explain why it’s the appropriate diagnostic tool for this disease. Other conditions listed—Baylisascaris infection, pemphigus, and immune thrombocytopenia—are diagnosed using different tests (parasitology, skin biopsy/serology, and platelet counts with clinical workup, respectively), not by the Coggins assay.