AURORA, CO—JUNE 24, 2016—Arapahoe Park in Aurora, Colorado is responding strongly to a positive test result for Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA) in the racetrack’s barn area. According to the Colorado Department of Agriculture website, the horse in question was “a non-racing horse” who “has been in Colorado less than 60 days and came from an out-of-state track.”

“It appears that the horse was infected prior to coming to Colorado and previously tested negative for the disease in May of 2015,” the Colorado Department of Agriculture said in a release. “Because the disease is most commonly spread by biting flies and it is very early in Colorado’s fly season, the risk of disease transmission to other horses at the track appears to be relatively low.”

Arapahoe Park, in cooperation with the Colorado and U.S. departments of agriculture and the Colorado Division of Racing Events, has placed the horse with the positive Coggins Test used to detect EIA in isolation and has quarantined the facility. No horse will be allowed to enter or leave Arapahoe Park until the quarantine is lifted. Racing is scheduled to proceed with horses already at Arapahoe Park.

“We are trying to be as proactive as possible to make sure this remains an isolated case,” Arapahoe Park executive director Bruce Seymore said.

EIA is a viral disease spread by biting flies such as horse flies or deer flies that affects equine animals only. It does not affect humans. Horses must be tested annually with a Coggins Test prior to traveling between states.