Equine Piroplasmosis Case in Florida Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson announced Aug. 15 that a horse in Manatee County, Fla., has been diagnosed with equine piroplasmosis, an animal disease that the U.S. has been considered free of since 1988. Blood and tissue testing of a 7-year-old gelding that had been euthanized after a three-week illness confirmed the presence of the disease in the animal. State officials immediately quarantined the premises on which the horse resided, as well as two adjacent properties containing horses until a determination of their status could be made. An ongoing investigation is being conducted by the state veterinarian's office to determine the source of the disease and whether it has spread beyond the immediate area where the infected animal was housed. Equine piroplasmosis (EP) is a blood-borne parasitic disease primarily transmitted to horses by ticks or contaminated needles. The disease was eradicated from Florida in the 1980's, and the tick species believed to transmit EP in other countries have not been identified in Florida in many years....