Horse owners concerned after animal tests positive for rare terminal disease

WELD COUNTY, Colo. — A horse in Weld County, Colorado has tested positive for a rare disease.

The state isn't saying where in the county - specifically - but this horse will either be quarantined for life or euthanized.

The race is on to check hundreds of other horses.

Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA) is not communicable to humans, but there is no cure for the disease, which spreads through mosquitoes.

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Colorado state officials can't say which Weld County farm the horse came from, but they do know it crossed into Wyoming on Aug. 20 and returned on Aug. 25.

The state veterinarian says the infected horse was living with 240 other horses while in Colorado.

Some of the horses were sent to 20 other states before the quarantine order, leaving the Department of Agriculture working to find all of them for testing.

So far only the one horse has tested positive for the disease.

NBC/KUSA