Unsanctioned, commonly called “bushtrack”, racing has occurred in certain regions of the United States for decades, however, it has only been recently that state and federal animal health officials identified the connection of this activity to widespread transmission of equine blood-borne diseases.
Sringes - Common cause of EIA and EP infections is caused by reused syringes in unsanctioned racing.
From 2008 through 2022, 541 cases of equine piroplasmosis and 409 cases of equine infectious anemia were confirmed in current or former Quarter Horse racehorses, many with ties to unsanctioned racing.
© 2018 by Fabio Berti
Outbreaks of equine piroplasmosis (EP, Babesia caballi, Theileria equi) in clusters of Quarter Horse racehorses in Florida in 2008 and Missouri in 2009 were the first instances where involvement in bushtrack racing and iatrogenic transmission were key factors in the disease spread.
Increasing numbers of equine infectious anemia (EIA) cases began to be confirmed in Quarter Horse racehorses around 2013 and now are the predominantly affected breed/discipline in annual U.S. EIA cases.
There is frequent cross-over of Quarter Horse racehorses between sanctioned and unsanctioned race events,so EIA and EP testing requirements to enter sanctioned racetracks provides the primary mechanism by which new disease cases are being identified.
From 2008 through 2022, a total of 541 cases of EP and 409 cases of EIA were confirmed in current or former Quarter Horse racehorses, many of which had ties to unsanctioned racing. Iatrogenic transmission via unhygienic practices was identified as the cause of spread in all cases and some horses were found dually infected with both EIA and EP.
The most common methods of transmission included the reuse of needles/ syringes/intravenous administration sets between blood contamination of multi-dose drug vials, administration of illegally imported blood and plasma products from other countries and direct blood transfusion between horses for the purpose of increasing athletic performance (blood doping).
The EIA cases in this population have highlighted a significant shift in epidemiology of EIA in the U.S. While EIA cases used to be primarily identified in untested or under tested herds with natural fly-bite transmission as the cause of spread, since 2017, the majority of EIA cases annually are now in Quarter Horse racehorses with iatrogenic transmission identified as the cause of spread.
In 2022, 96 cases of EIA were confirmed in 16 states and 84 of the cases were in Quarter Horse racehorses with iatrogenic transmission either suspected or confirmed. Given that iatrogenic transmission is a human-caused event easily prevented by good hygiene and biosecurity, these are cases of disease spread which could have been prevented. Additionally, some of these clusters of cases have an identified source of horses illegally moved into the U.S. from Mexico, where both EIA and EP are endemic and have high prevalence.
Recent investigation of bushtrack racing by state and federal animal health officials has identified at least 121 bushtrack located in 28 states, although many more have yet to be found. Increasing numbers of bushtrack venues and higher participation levels have been fueled in recentyears through social media platforms.
These platforms have become the main method by which bushtrack event organizers and participants communicate race dates, advertise match ups and acquire new fans and spectators. While most bushtrack races draw several hundred spectators each race day, some high-volume venues routinely support several thousand spectators.
Since no rules are in place for horse or rider safety, many welfare issues are commonly encountered. Participating horses are maintained on performance enhancing drugs and all horses are medicated on race day, with some given narcotics immediately before the race.
Horses are raced lame, racing surfaces are poor, whips are used excessively, electronic shock devices are employed and catastrophic breakdowns during the race are common.
Most races are recorded on video and posted to social media platforms, so evidence of these welfare issues is readily available. Many other illegal activities have been documented at these venues beyond illegal racing and gambling, so coordination across multiple state and federal authorities would need to be employed to address the situation with any effect.
Bushtrack racing at the current level of occurrence has significant negative impacts on sanctioned horse racing. As previously noted, frequent cross-over of horses between bushtrack and sanctioned races has been documented and exposes sanctioned horses and racetracks to potential EP and EIA transmission.
Additionally, rampant drug use in bushtrack horses causes long-term damage to horse health and impacts future breeding performance for stallions and mares recovered from bushtrack circuits.
Further, welfare issues observed at bushtrack and seen in internet-posted race videos are perceived by the general public as occurring in all horse racing, resulting in a negative stigma on sanctioned racing.
From an animal health and infectious disease perspective, veterinarians play a critical role in identifying horses that may be participating in bushtrack activities and providing disease, hygiene and biosecurity recommendations to horse owners to prevent EIA or EP infection.
Unfortunately, bushtrack participants rarely use a licensed veterinarian, so opportunities to educate or test horses may be sparse.
As a result, the best opportunity to test horses leaving this population is during veterinary prepurchase examinations for clients converting these horses to a new athletic focus after racing. Equine practitioners should routinely test current or former Quarter Horse racehorses for both EP and EIA to prevent spread of these diseases into other equine populations.
Article by Angela Pelzel-McCluskey DVM, MS USDA-APHIS Veterinary Services Fort Collins, Colorado - Press release by Equine Disease Quarterly