Serology in horse research involves the study and analysis of blood serum to detect the presence of antibodies or antigens associated with infectious diseases and other health conditions. It is a diagnostic tool used to identify immune responses to pathogens, vaccination status, and exposure to specific diseases. Serological tests in equine research can include enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), complement fixation tests, and virus neutralization tests. These tests help in understanding the epidemiology of diseases, monitoring herd health, and informing vaccination strategies. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the methodologies, applications, and implications of serological testing in equine medicine.
Walton TE, Alvarez O, Buckwalter RM, Johnson KM.Ten horses (Equus caballus) were vaccinated with strain TC-83 Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis (VEE) virus vaccine. Febrile responses and leukopenia due to a reduction of lymphocytes and neutrophils were observed in all animals. Viremias were demonstrable in eight horses, with a maximum of 10(3.5) median tissue culture infectious dose units per ml of serum in two horses. Clinical illness with depression and anorexia were observed in five horses. Neutralizing (N), hemagglutination-inhibiting, and complement-fixing antibodies to the vaccine virus were demonstrable by 5, 6.5, and 7 days, respe...
Pereira HG, Takimoto S, Piegas NS, do Valle LA.Influenza equine (Heq2Neq2) strains isolated during the course of epizootics observed in Guanabara (Rio de Janeiro) and São Paulo, Brazil, in July-October 1969 were shown to differ antigenically from earlier strains of the same subtype (A/equine/Miami/1/63 (Heq2Neq2)). The difference could be clearly demonstrated in haemagglutination inhibition tests performed with postinfection horse or ferret sera but not with hyperimmune rooster sera. Antibody responses of diseased horses were higher and more frequent against current isolates than against strain equine/Miami/1/63. Some animals also showed ...
Nakajima H, Ushimi C.Antigenicity of purified equine infectious anemia (EIA) virus was examined by immunodiffusion against sera obtained from horses experimentally infected with EIA virus. The purified virus reacted with the infected horse serum, and virus-specific precipitating antibody was demonstrated. Furthermore, it was found that purified EIA virus reacted against the serum of horses infected with all strains of EIA virus which were antigenically different from one another. From the result, group-specific components of the virus rather than strain-specific ones were considered to be involved in the reaction....
Tumova B, Easterday BC.This study demonstrates relationships in envelope antigens of 4 human influenza A2 strains isolated during the period 1957-68 (including A2/Hong Kong/68), 2 strains of A/Equi-2/63 and 7 avian influenza viruses isolated in Europe, North America, and the Ukraine in the years 1960-67.Antigenic relationships among the strains were determined on the basis of haemagglutination-inhibition, virus-neutralization, strain-specific complement-fixation, and neuraminidase-inhibition tests.North American avian influenza strains, Turkey/California/64, Turkey/Massachusetts/65, Turkey/Wisconsin/66, Turkey/Ontar...
Lee CL, Zandrew F, Davidsohn I.One hundred infectious mononucleosis and the same number of non-infectious mononucleosis sera were studied to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of horse erythrocytes in the diagnosis of infectious mononucleosis. Titres of horse agglutinins in infectious mononucleosis sera ranged from 28 to 7,168 with a geometric mean of 550, whereas the corresponding sheep agglutinin titres ranged from less than 7 to 3,584, with a geometric mean of 126. Horse agglutinin titres of non-infectious mononucleosis sera ranged from less than 7 to 896, with a geometric mean of 59. Infectious mononucleosis sera ...
Morgante O, Vance HN, Shemanchuk JA, Windsor R.The epizootic of equine encephalomyelitis in 1965 in Alberta was proved to be due to Western Encephalomyelitis virus infection by serological findings and virus isolations.Sixty-three horses of 88 tested, showed a diagnostic rise of CF antibodies to Western Encephalomyelitis virus. Western Encephalomyelitis virus was isolated from 5 brains of horses. Homologous antibodies were shown in 3 of these animals, the only ones from which blood specimens were received. For the first time virological evidence is given that Western Encephalomyelitis virus infection in horses is found in more areas of Alb...
Herbst W, Görlich P, Danner K.Of 1081 acute and chronically respiratory diseased as well as clinically normal horses 824 sera and 257 paired serum samples collected 1986 and 1987 were tested for antibodies against several different respiratory viruses such as influenza virus A/equi 1 and 2 (Influenza 1 a. 2), equine herpesvirus type 1/4 (EHV 1/4), mammalian reovirus type 1-3 (Reovirus 1-3), equine rhinovirus type 1 (ERV 1), equine adenovirus type 1 (EAdV 1), and equine arteritis virus (EAV). The investigations resulted in an antibody prevalence of 57.2% (Influenza 1), 59.5% (Influenza 2), 81.5% (EHV 1/4), 50.3% (Reovirus 1...
Goto H, Yamamoto Y, Ohta C, Shirahata T, Higuchi T, Ohishi H.A total of 305 horse sera collected in the Hidaka district of Hokkaido in the years 1988-90 were tested for the presence of hemagglutination-inhibition (HI) antibodies to A/equine/Newmarket/1/77 (H7N7), A/equine/Tokyo/2/71 (H3N8) and A/equine/Kentucky/1/81 (H3N8, Kentucky) strains of equine influenza (EI) virus. Antibodies to the 3 strains were detected in hardly of the 45 sera from 2-years-old horses which were collected before vaccination. Many of the 51 horses, after vaccination with inactivated EI virus, had HI antibodies to the 3 strains in 37 to 88 per cent. However, the number of positi...
Adeyefa CA.Serological evidence of Equine Herpes virus type 1 (EHV-1) activity in Polo horses in Nigeria is reported for the first time. Eighty-two percent of horses tested with known antigen had precipitating antibodies to EHV-1 while 43% of sera tested against antigen prepared from nasal discharges were positive suggesting that the virus was being excreted in the nasal discharges and probably acting as a source of infection for incontact animals as occurs in on-going acute infections. The result of this study indicates a high prevalence of EHV-1 activity among Polo horses in Nigeria and demonstrates th...
Mancini DA, Pereira AS, Mendonça RM, Kawamoto AH, Alves RC, Pinto JR, Mori E, Richtzenhain LJ, Mancini-Filho J.Equines are susceptible to respiratory viruses such as influenza and parainfluenza. Respiratory diseases have adversely impacted economies all over the world. This study was intended to determine the presence of influenza and parainfluenza viruses in unvaccinated horses from some regions of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Blood serum collected from 72 equines of different towns in this state was tested by hemagglutination inhibition test to detect antibodies for both viruses using the corresponding antigens. About 98.6% (71) and 97.2% (70) of the equines responded with antibody protective tit...
Nowotny N, Bürki F.Three cases of abortions were diagnosed as caused by Equine Arteritis Virus (EAV) by isolation and typing of this virus from the respective fetuses. All 3 abortions were single cases, one occurring on a stud with Iceland Ponies, one with Warmbloods, one with Lipizzaner horses. On each stud horses of the respective breed were kept exclusively, therefore there existed no epidemiologic link. By means of seroneutralization tests performed on in contact horses it could be shown, that EAV had only been introduced recently into the stud with the Iceland Ponies. An extraneous mare stabled temporarily ...
Dilai M, Piro M, Fougerolle S, El Harrak M, Mahir W, El Mourid R, Legrand L, Paillot R, Fassi Fihri O.In order to evaluate the vaccination status against equine influenza (EI) in Moroccan racehorses, a serological investigation was carried out on 509 racehorses using three serological tests: an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), the Hemagglutination Inhibition (HI) test and the Single Radial Haemolysis (SRH) assay. The serological analysis showed 56% of seropositivity by ELISA, 67% by HI and 89.4% by SRH (with 69.9% above the clinical protection threshold). Using the Kappa test, the SRH and HI assays showed a strong agreement, the SRH and ELISA assays had a moderate agreement and the H...
Palmer JE, Benson CE, Lotz GW.Ten healthy, mature ponies were orally infected with Ehrlichia risticii using Ehrlichia-infected P388D1 mouse monocyte tissue culture cells. Seven developed signs of equine ehrlichial colitis including fever, depression, anorexia, reduced borborygmi, increased abdominal hyperresonance, and diarrhoea. Three remained clinically normal apart from early fever in one. Indirect fluorescent antibody titres were detected in the clinically affected ponies by Days 12 to 17 post infection and increased rapidly to high levels (1:640 to 1:5120) which were maintained until the end of the observation period ...
Farrar WP, Bech-Nielsen S, Gordon JC, Reed SM, Pretzman CI, Kohn CW.The purpose of this work was to study the association of positive serological titers to Ehrlichia risticii, the causative agent of equine monocytic ehrlichiosis (EME) with gastro-intestinal disorders in hospitalized horses referred to The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital (OSU VMTH). In addition, serological titers for E. risticii were monitored in two horse populations with endemic EME for one season to monitor temporal changes in titers. A statistically significant difference was found between the proportion of the total hospitalized horse population pres...
Neely M, Arroyo L, Jardine C, Clow K, Moore A, Hazlett M, Weese JS.The blacklegged tick (), which transmits , the causative agent of Lyme disease, has undergone rapid range expansion in Ontario. In horses, Lyme disease remains an enigmatic disease, with limited understanding of the pathogenesis and many issues pertaining to selection and interpretation of laboratory tests. We evaluated seropositivity in naturally exposed horses over a 12-mo period and compared paired samples with 2 common serologic tests. Serum samples were collected in 2017, ~1 y after initial testing, from a cohort of 22 horses that were seropositive in a 2016 seroprevalence study. Sampl...
Wilkołek P, Szczepanik M, Sitkowski W, Rodzik B, Pluta M, Taszkun I, Gołyński M.Although intradermal testing (IDT) is commonly used in the etiological diagnosis of allergies, in vitro testing for specific IgE (sIgE) is an attractive alternative. Currently, new laboratory techniques in veterinary allergological practice, including multiple allergen simultaneous tests (MASTs), gradually supersede in vivo tests. Both, serological (sIgE) and IDTs in fourteen atopic Malopolski horses were performed. Correlation and agreement between test results were evaluated. Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that sIgE to had the best diagnostic performance (Area under the R...
Malmquist WA, Becvar CS.Equine infectious anemia (EIA) cell antigens prepared from infected equine spleen, equine leukocyte cultures or a persistently infected equine dermis cell line contained at least two serologically reacting components. For convenience one component was designated as soluble antigen (SA) and the other as cell-associated antigen (CAA). The SA appeared as a single component when it was prepared from EIA virus precipitated from infectious tissue culture fluid with polyethylene glycol and ether treated but it was mixed with CAA when the source was infected cells. Cytolytic or mechanical disruption o...
Bazovská S, Awad-Masalmeh M, Kmety E, Spaleková M.Serological examination of 420 domestic animals for the presence of antilegionella antibodies indicates their high exposure to legionellae. On examination by the microagglutination reaction with a serum dilution of 1:64 or more the highest positive values were recorded in horses which reacted with antigens of L. pneumophila 1-14 in 36.2% and with antigens of another 19 types of legionellae in 47.8%. In pigs positive values recorded in 16.2% and in 21.1%; in cattle in 3.8% and 29.5%, in sheep in 7.5% and 11.3% and laboratory rabbits were quite negative. The importance of these findings with reg...
Erickson GA, Maré CJ.Goat Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis (VEE) antiserum and normal serum were conjugated and evaluated for staining sensitivity and specificity. Cross-staining with either eastern or western equine encephalomyelitis virus-infected cells did not occur. The baby hamster kidney (BHK-21) cell line when combined with highly specific VEE conjugate detected 100 medium suckling mouse intracerebral lethal doses (suckling mouse LD-50/IC) of the 1B subtype of VEE virus per milliliter of equine tissue suspension. Conjugated goat antiserum was assayed for sensitivity for detection of VEE virus-infected eq...
Ryder S, Núñez-Camargo J, Rangel P, Añez F.With the purpose of determining antibodies prevalence against Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Virus in the population of Puertos de Altagracia and Sabaneta de Palmas of Miranda county, Zulia State, Venezuela, 199 subjects were studied: 57 from Puertos de Altagracia and 142 from Sabaneta de Palmas. They were classified in older (42.78%) and younger (57.2%) than 15 years. The blood specimens were processed for Hemagglutination Inhibition Test using EEV antigen Goajira strain at pH 6.5. We found that all 57 specimens from Puertos de Altagracia were negative, whereas of 142 specimens from Sabaneta ...
Velineni S, Timoney JF, Artiushin SC, Donahue JM, Steinman M.Foals of mares infected with Leptospira interrogans serovar Pomona type kennewicki (Lk) may be aborted/stillborn or delivered as healthy foals. Is fetal survival explained in part by the immune response of the fetus to Leptospira antigens? Objective: To describe an outbreak of Leptospira abortion in which infected mares delivered dead/sick or normal foals and determine specificities of antibody in a collection of 54 fetuses from similar outbreaks. Methods: Outbreak investigation in combination with a case-control study of a larger set of samples from aborted fetuses. Methods: Serology and poly...
The Journal of hygieneDecember 1, 1982
Volume 89, Issue 3 529-538 doi: 10.1017/s0022172400071102
Corbel MJ, Brewer RA.Immunoelectrophoresis of ultrasonically disrupted Haemophilus equigenitalis (contagious equine metritis organism) cells against rabbit and equine antisera disclosed at least 11 precipitating antigens. Two of these, a polysaccharide and a lipopolysaccharide-protein complex, were of high molecular weight and located on the cell surface. The remaining antigens were intracellular and were small- to medium-sized proteins. The surface antigens were the most significant in relation to the serological response in infected horses. They also reacted with sera from apparently healthy cattle, but the reas...
Tatarov G, Martinov S, Panova M.It was established that the complement binding reaction (CBR) is a suitable and very fast method for horse rhino-pneumonitis diagnostics. Cell cultural virus produced in cell cultures of pig kidneys was used as antigen. The antigen lots tested have no anticomplementary properties. Highest complement binding activity was evident in the non-diluted antigen, which discovered specific antibodies in immune serums. The CBR specificity was tested by the aid of homologous and heterologous serums and antigens. The titers of complement binding antibodies in the serums of 255 horses recovered from the di...
Hamond C, Martins G, Lawson-Ferreira R, Medeiros MA, Lilenbaum W.The objective of this study was to demonstrate the presence of leptospires in equine urine, as evidence for a potential role of horses in transmission of this organism. Thoroughbred horses (aged 2-5 years, n = 276) from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, were studied. After a severe storm, the premises of the animals remained flooded for 72 h. Blood samples for serology were collected on days 20 and 35 (day of storm = day 0). On day 20, 132 (47·8%) horses were seroreactive (titre ≥200) and, of these, 23 (31·0%) had increased antibody titres on day 35. Furthermore, 34 urine samples (for PCR and cultur...
Zhang M, Dickinson RM.Multiple red, raised nodules multifocally distributed along the serosal surface of the normal and the nonviable jejunum were identified in a 24-year-old neutered male horse undergoing surgery for removal of the strangulating lipoma around the jejunum. Histologically, these nodules consisted of many significantly and variably dilated, blood-filled vascular channels lined by a single layer of flattened, well-differentiated endothelial cells with occasional thrombi within a mildly thickened fibrous stroma. A diagnosis of intestinal angiomatosis was proposed. To the best of the authors' knowledge,...
Muniz APM, Tolesano-Pascoli G, Vieira RBK, Polli MG, Rodrigues VDS, Gonzaga HT, Mamede CCN, Da Cunha NC, Szabó MJP, Yokosawa J.Rickettsia rickettsii is the etiological agent of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, which is an important tick-borne zoonosis and, in Brazil, it causes Brazilian spotted fever, which has high lethality rate. This study aimed to evaluate a synthetic peptide corresponding to a segment of the outer membrane protein A (OmpA) as an antigen in a serological test for the diagnosis of rickettsial infections. The amino acid sequence of the peptide was selected by predicting B cell epitopes using B Cell Epitope Prediction (Immune Epitope Database and Analysis Resource) and Epitopia and OmpA sequences of Ric...
Sánchez-Matamoros A, Beck C, Kukielka D, Lecollinet S, Blaise-Boisseau S, Garnier A, Rueda P, Zientara S, Sánchez-Vizcaíno JM.African horse sickness (AHS) is a viral disease that causes high morbidity and mortality rates in susceptible Equidae and therefore significant economic losses. More rapid, sensitive and specific assays are required by diagnostic laboratories to support effective surveillance programmes. A novel microsphere-based immunoassay (Luminex assay) in which beads are coated with recombinant AHS virus (AHSV) structural protein 7 (VP7) has been developed for serological detection of antibodies against VP7 of any AHSV serotype. The performance of this assay was compared with that of a commercial enzyme-l...
Borchers K, Frölich K, Ludwig H.In blood samples of seven captive equid species from four German zoos EHV-1 specific antibodies were detected in 76% and EHV-4 specific antibodies in 73% of the 55 animals, whereas 93% were tested positive for EHV-2 and EHV-5, respectively. In only one blood sample from a Przewalski's wild horse EHV-4 DNA was amplified by PCR. From seven Przewalski's wild horses EHV-2, and from another one EHV-5 was isolated by cocultivation. The identity of the virus isolates was verified by PCR and restriction enzyme digestion.
Durán-Ferrer M, Agüero M, Zientara S, Beck C, Lecollinet S, Sailleau C, Smith S, Potgieter C, Rueda P, Sastre P, Monaco F, Villalba R....The laboratory diagnosis of African horse sickness (AHS) is important for: (a) demonstrating freedom from infection in a population, animals or products for trade (b) assessing the efficiency of eradication policies; (c) laboratory confirmation of clinical diagnosis; (d) estimating the prevalence of AHS infection; and (e) assessing postvaccination immune status of individual animals or populations. Although serological techniques play a secondary role in the confirmation of clinical cases, their use is very important for all the other purposes due to their high throughput, ease of use and good...
Tåmová B, Stumpa A, Zakopal J, Vĕzníková D, Mensík J.Equine influenza occurred in Czechoslovakia 14 years after the last epizootic in horses that had returned from abroad. Six strains A (Heq1Neq1) antigenically related to, but not identical with, strain A/eq/Praha/56 were isolated from 10 washings. Seroconversion was demonstrated with paired sera, but the antibody increase was more marked against the newly isolated strain.
Axt CW, Springer A, Strube C, Jung C, Naucke TJ, Müller E, Schäfer I.Equine piroplasmosis (EP) is caused by (.) and/or (.) . The aim was to assess the percentage of positive test results for EP in horses in Europe and to identify risk factors for pathogen contact/infection. This study included results from PCR and competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay testing requested by European veterinarians between 2008 and 2021. Binary bivariate logistic regression was used to analyze risk factors. A total of 4060 horses were included. PCR testing was positive in 9.7% (154/1589), serology for in 15.2% (393/2591) and for in 6.8% (175/2578). The odds of positive...
Mekata H, Yamada K, Umeki K, Yamamoto M, Ochi A, Umekita K, Kobayashi I, Hirai T, Okabayashi T.Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is a fatal zoonosis caused by ticks in East Asia. As SFTS virus (SFTSV) is maintained between wildlife and ticks, seroepidemiological studies in wildlife are important to understand the behavior of SFTSV in the environment. Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan, is an SFTS-endemic area, and approximately 100 feral horses, called Misaki horses (Equus caballus), inhabit Cape Toi in Miyazaki Prefecture. While these animals are managed in a wild-like manner, their ages are ascertainable due to individual identification. In the present study, we conducted a s...
Ramos-Vázquez JR, Sánchez-Montes S, Esparza-González SC, Romero-Salas D, Pardio-Sedas V, Estrada-Coates AT, Alva-Trujillo M, Ballados-González GG....Leptospirosis is an infectious disease with a worldwide distribution, which represents a major challenge in animal production across developing countries, mainly in tropical areas. Horses are particularly susceptible to the disease, presenting manifestations ranging from subclinical to the development of uveitis that compromises the visual health of the animals. In recent years, serological studies have been carried out in equid populations from America, demonstrating high exposure. For this reason, the aim of this study was to demonstrate microbiologically and molecularly the presence of the ...
Hamond C, Adam EN, Stone NE, LeCount K, Anderson T, Putz EJ, Camp P, Hicks J, Stuber T, van der Linden H, Bayles DO, Sahl JW, Schlater LK, Wagner DM....Equine leptospirosis can result in abortion, stillbirth, neonatal death, placentitis, and uveitis. Horses can also act as subclinical reservoir hosts of infection, which are characterized as asymptomatic carriers that persistently excrete leptospires and transmit disease. In this study, PCR and culture were used to assess urinary shedding of pathogenic Leptospira from 37 asymptomatic mares. Three asymptomatic mares, designated as H2, H8, and H9, were PCR-positive for lipL32, a gene specific for pathogenic species of Leptospira. One asymptomatic mare, H9, was culture-positive, and the recovered...
Schramm A, Ackermann M, Eichwald C, Aguilar C, Fraefel C, Lechmann J.Equid alphaherpesviruses 1 (EHV-1) and 4 (EHV-4) are closely related and both endemic in horses worldwide. Both viruses replicate in the upper respiratory tract, but EHV-1 may additionally lead to abortion and equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy (EHM). We focused on antibody responses in horses against the receptor-binding glycoprotein D of EHV-1 (gD1), which shares a 77% amino acid identity with its counterpart in EHV-4 (gD4). Both antigens give rise to cross-reacting antibodies, including neutralizing antibodies. However, immunity against EHV-4 is not considered protective against EHM. Wh...
Tikmehdash HT, Dehnad A, Mosavari N, Naghili Hokmabadi B, Mahmazi S.Glanders caused by Burkholderia mallei is one of the most dangerous zoonotic diseases in solipeds. Clinical diagnosis of this disease in its early stages in horses, is difficult. This study investigated serological and molecular identification of B. mallei in East Azerbaijan province. In the third and fourth quarters of 2020, throughout 2021, and in the first and second quarters of 2022, the complement fixation test (CFT) was performed on 350 horses. The malleination was used to confirm the positive CFT cases. Blood samples were taken for culture and for preparing serums to perform the enzyme-...
