Coggins Test Requirements for Horses in New Mexico

Dr. Leroy Coggins developed the Coggins test in the 1970s. It is the definitive blood test used for detecting in equine infectious anemia (EIA) in horses. EIA is a contagious disease with no vaccination or cure. The purpose of the Coggins test is to detect EIA in the horse's blood. The test is mandatory for any horse entering or traveling in New Mexico.

  1. Entering New Mexico

    • All horses that are 6 months old or older are required to have a current Coggins test certificate before they can enter New Mexico. A current Coggins certificate is one that is less than a year old. Foals younger than 6 months may accompany their dams, as long as the dam has a current negative certificate.

    New Mexico State Fair

    • All horses that participate in the New Mexico State Fair are required to arrive with a Coggins test certificate that shows they tested negative for EIA within the previous 12 months. The same rule applies to privately run horse shows and all breed association shows. Some breed associations prefer Coggins tests be less than six months old.

    Testing Procedure

    • All Coggins tests must be done by a veterinarian and then sent to a USDA approved laboratory for testing. The test involves taking a sample of the horse's blood and then having an approved laboratory test it with either the agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) test or the competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (CELISA) test. Horses that do not pass the test are retested, then either euthanized or quarantined for life.

    Equine Infectious Anemia

    • New Mexico and other western states are slightly more at risk for occurrences of EIA because it is not completely eliminated among the wild horses and burros that still exist in the American West. In 2007, New Mexico gained national attention from the horse and veterinary community when a horse at the Ruidoso Downs racetrack tested positive for EIA, possibly exposing hundreds of other horses to the disease.