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.
Quigley A, Sekiya M, Garcia-Campos A, Paz-Silva A, Howell A, Williams DJL, Mulcahy G.Fasciola hepatica is a common parasite of livestock in Ireland, causing significant economic losses and affecting animal welfare. A previous abattoir study of 200 horses led to an estimated 9.5 % prevalence of infection in horses slaughtered in Ireland. However, the epidemiology and pathogenic significance of this infection in this species is not well-described. The objectives of this study were to determine the susceptibility of horses to oral challenge infection with F. hepatica metacercariae, and to document the course of the infection along with serological and biochemical response. We att...
Schulze V, Große R, Fürstenau J, Forth LF, Ebinger A, Richter MT, Tappe D, Mertsch T, Klose K, Schlottau K, Hoffmann B, Höper D, Mundhenk L....Borna disease virus 1 (BoDV-1) is the causative agent of Borna disease, an often fatal neurologic condition of domestic mammals, including New World camelids, in endemic areas in Central Europe. Recently, BoDV-1 gained further attention by the confirmation of fatal zoonotic infections in humans. Although Borna disease and BoDV-1 have been described already over the past decades, comprehensive reports of Borna disease outbreaks in domestic animals employing state-of-the-art diagnostic methods are missing. Here, we report a series of BoDV-1 infections in a herd of 27 alpacas (Vicugna pacos) in t...
Benfodil K, Büscher P, Abdelli A, Van Reet N, Mohamed-Herif A, Ansel S, Fettata S, Dehou S, Bebronne N, Geerts M, Balharbi F, Ait-Oudhia K.Trypanosoma evansi (T. evansi) is a hemoflagellate parasite that affects a broad range of mammalian hosts and that causes a disease called surra. Diagnosis of surra based on clinical symptoms alone is inaccurate. Therefore, a variety of serological and molecular diagnostic tests are used to assist in the detection of T. evansi infections. The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic performance of four serological tests (CATT/T.evansi, immune trypanolysis, ELISA with purified variant surface glycoprotein RoTat 1.2 and with whole cell lysate) and two molecular PCR tests targeting sequenc...
Tirosh-Levy S, Gottlieb Y, Mimoun L, Mazuz ML, Steinman A.Although the main route of transmission of is through tick feeding, transplacental transmission is also possible and may lead to abortion, or to the birth of a sick or carrier foal. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of as a cause of abortions in Israel and the risk of foals being infected at a young age. Eight aborting mares were serologically evaluated for exposure to via the immunofluorescence antibody test (IFAT) and their aborted fetuses were evaluated using PCR and qPCR. In addition, five mares and their foals (aged 4-6 months) from a highly endemic farm were tested for i...
Assaid N, Mousson L, Moutailler S, Arich S, Akarid K, Monier M, Beck C, Lecollinet S, Failloux AB, Sarih M.West Nile virus (WNV) is one of the most widely distributed mosquito-borne viruses in the world. In North Africa, it causes human cases of meningoencephalitis with fatalities in Algeria and in Tunisia, whereas only horses were affected in Morocco. The aims of this study were to detect WNV in mosquitoes and to determine seroprevalence of WNV in Moroccan horses by the detection of IgG antibodies. A total of 1455 mosquitoes belonging to four different species were grouped by collection site, date, and sex with 10 specimens per pool and tested for 38 arboviruses using a high-throughput chip based ...
Fouché N, Graubner C, Lanz S, Schweighauser A, Francey T, Gerber V.Four 2-month-old foals were presented to an equine hospital with acute kidney injury caused by Leptospira interrogans infection. Clinical signs were nonspecific and included lethargy, fever, and unwillingness to nurse. The most important hematologic and clinicopathologic findings were azotemia, anemia, thrombocytopenia, hyponatremia, and hypochloremia. The diagnosis was based on urinary real-time PCR, serology using a microscopic agglutination test, or both. The most important serovars involved were L. interrogans serogroup australis serovar Bratislava and Australis. Treatment consisted of IV ...
Davkharbayar B, Davaasuren B, Narantsatsral S, Battur B, Punsantsogvoo M, Battsetseg B, Mizushima D, Inoue N, Suganuma K.Dourine is a lethal protozoan disease of equids, and it is caused by Trypanosoma equiperdum infection via coitus. To date, treatment strategies against the dourine are not recommended because of the frequent relapses; therefore, the World Organisation for Animal Health recommends the stamping-out policy for the control of dourine. Our previous studies have revealed a number of horses with dourine in Mongolia that is the fifth largest horse-breeding country. It is difficult to apply the stamping-out policy for cases of dourine in Mongolia because of an inadequate livestock guarantee system. The...
Jones B, Taylor K, Lucas RM, Merritt T, Chicken C, Heller J, Carrick J, Givney R, Durrheim DN.This report describes the challenges encountered in using serological methods to study the historical transmission risk of from horses to humans. In 2017, serology and risk factor questionnaire data from a group of individuals, whose occupations involved close contact with horses, were collected to assess the seroprevalence of antibodies to and identify risk factors associated with previous exposure. 147 participants were enrolled in the study, provided blood samples, and completed a questionnaire. On ELISA testing, antibodies to the Chlamydia genus were detected in samples from 17 participa...
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...
Pringle J, Storm E, Waller A, Riihimäki M.Antibiotic treatment of horses with strangles is reported to impair the development of immunity to subsequent exposure to Streptococcus equi ssp equi (S. equi). However, apart from a single clinical report, evidence-based studies for this hypothesis are lacking. Objective: To determine whether penicillin treatment during clinical strangles influences the development or persistence of seropositivity to S. equi-specific antibodies. Methods: A natural outbreak of strangles with 100% morbidity in 41 unvaccinated mature Icelandic horses. Methods: A prospective longitudinal study of acute clinical s...
Souza EAR, Araujo AC, Pires LCSR, Freschi CR, Azevedo SS, Machado RZ, Horta MC.Equine piroplasmosis, an economically important disease in horses, has so far not been reported in Pernambuco state, Brazil. This study aimed to evaluate the seroprevalence of anti-Babesia caballi and anti-Theileria equi antibodies based on the detection of these agents in equine blood and in ticks on horses in the municipality of Petrolina, Pernambuco, northeastern Brazil. Blood samples were drawn from 393 horses and sera were examined by ELISA. The presence of tick infestations was evaluated, and 101 ticks were subjected to DNA amplification for the detection of Babesia spp. by polymerase ch...
Barbosa Costa G, Marinho PES, Vilela APP, Saraiva-Silva AT, Crispim APC, Borges IA, Dutra AGS, Lobato ZIP, Dos Reis JKP, de Oliveira DB, Drumond BP....Saint Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that occurs throughout the Americas, and is considered a public health threat. In Brazil, SLEV has been detected from human cases associated with dengue-like disease, but no neurological symptoms were reported. Furthermore, the epidemiology of SLEV in human populations is still poorly explored in the country. We reported serological and molecular detection of SLEV in a healthy population of equids and humans from rural areas in Southeast Brazil. A plaque reduction neutralization test was applied, and neutralizing antibodies w...
Khalili M, Sakhaee E, Bagheri Amiri F, Safat AA, Afshar D, Esmaeili S.Leptospirosis is a neglected infectious zoonotic disease that affects domestic animals and wildlife as well as humans. Although leptospirosis is known as an endemic disease in Iran, there is no accurate information on the overall prevalence of this disease in humans and animals. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to estimate the seroprevalence of leptospirosis among human and domestic and wild animals in Iran. A systematic review of English and Persian articles (since 1998 to December 2017) was conducted using Google Scholar, Medline/PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, Web of ...
Olguin-Perglione C, Vissani MA, Alamos F, Tordoya MS, Barrandeguy M.Equine influenza is an important cause of respiratory disease of horses worldwide. The equine influenza virus (EIV) undergoes antigenic drift through the accumulation of amino acid substitutions in the viral proteins, which may lead to vaccine breakdown. Objective: To describe the epidemiological findings and the molecular characteristics of the EIV detected during the multifocal outbreak that occurred in Argentina between March and July 2018 and evidence a vaccine breakdown. Methods: Observational, descriptive study. Methods: Virus was detected in nasopharyngeal swabs using real-time reverse ...
Wernery U, Rodriguez Caveney M, Wernery R, Raghavan R, Laroucau K, Syriac G, Thomas SM, John J, Joseph M, Jose S, Joseph S, Woo P.Six horses were challenged experimentally with a strain of Burkholderia pseudomallei isolated from a fatal case of the infection in a dromedary camel years earlier in the Emirate of Dubai. Three horses were inoculated subcutaneously and in 3 the bacterium was administered by the oral route. Four of the horses became serologically positive based on reactions to one or more of the OIE described tests for glanders. B. pseudomallei was re-isolated from the 4 serological positive horses. Only one of the subcutaneously infected horses, developed fever for 3 days. The white blood cell values and the ...
Camino E, Dorrego A, Carvajal KA, Buendia-Andres A, de Juan L, Dominguez L, Cruz-Lopez F.Equine piroplasmosis (EP) is a tick-borne protozoan disease caused by Theileria equi and/or Babesia caballi. Clinical signs (fever, pale mucosal membranes, jaundice), anemia and hyperbilirubinemia have been associated with the disease. EP is widespread, has a significant economic impact on the equine industry and remains endemic in Spain. This study was carried out with samples belonging to 140 horses residing in Spain and showing common clinical signs of EP. A blood smear microscopic examination and a comparison between the different results obtained by competitive Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent...
Forsyth J, Halliwell RE, Harrand R.Identification of environmental allergens in horses with allergic disease facilitates allergen avoidance and targeted immunotherapy. Objective: To evaluate allergenic co-reactivity between 44 environmental allergens. Methods: Horses with suspected allergic disease (n = 344) whose sera were submitted for environmental allergen testing. Methods: Allergen-specific IgE serological assays were performed using 44 allergens divided into six taxonomically related groups: house dust/storage mites, moulds, insects, grass, tree and weed pollens. Using pairwise comparisons, odds ratios (ORs) were calcul...
Howell AK, Malalana F, Beesley NJ, Hodgkinson JE, Rhodes H, Sekiya M, Archer D, Clough HE, Gilmore P, Williams DJL.Fasciola hepatica (liver fluke) affects grazing animals including horses but the extent to which it affects UK horses is unknown. Objective: To define how liver fluke affects the UK horse population. Methods: Descriptive, cross-sectional, observational study. Methods: An F. hepatica excretory-secretory antibody detection ELISA with a diagnostic sensitivity of 71% and specificity of 97% was validated and used to analyse serum samples. An abattoir study was performed to determine prevalence. A case-control study of 269 horses compared fluke exposure between horses with liver disease and control...
Ebani VV.Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Rickettsia spp. are tick-borne bacteria of veterinary and human concern. In view of the One-Health concept, the present study wanted to evaluate the spreading of these pathogens in horses living in central Italy. In particular, the aim of the investigation was to verify the exposure to A. phagocytophilum in order to update the prevalence of this pathogen in the equine population from this area, and to spotted fever group (SFG) Rickettsia spp. to evaluate a possible role of horses in the epidemiology of rickettsiosis. Indirect immunofluorescent assay was carried ou...
Alnaeem AA, Hemida MG.Equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) is one of the most important threats to the equine industry globally. This is due to the poor performance of the affected horses, which requires euthanization of the infected animals upon the infection confirmation. Infected animals remain carriers throughout their life. EIAV infection has been reported in many parts of the world, including North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. However, the EIAV status is never assessed in horses in the Gulf area, especially in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Objective: This study aimed to perform molecular and serol...
Calderón JC, Astudillo M, Romero MH.Introduction: Police working horses are in close contact with their managers and the general population during recreational and patrol activities, which can favor the transmission of leptospirosis among the horses and the occupationally exposed personnel. Objective. To characterize epidemiologically leptospirosis through serology, urine culture and PCR in working horses and in the occupationally exposed population in six police stations in Colombia. Materials and methods. We tested 153 castrated male horses and 123 people in six police stations in the municipalities of Manizales, Pereira, Arme...
Rockstroh A, Moges B, Berneck BS, Sattler T, Revilla-Fernández S, Schmoll F, Pacenti M, Sinigaglia A, Barzon L, Schmidt-Chanasit J, Nowotny N....Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) and West Nile virus (WNV) are important arthropod-borne zoonotic flaviviruses. Due to the emergence of WNV in TBEV-endemic regions co-circulation of both viruses is increasing. Flaviviruses are structurally highly similar, which leads to cross-reacting antibodies upon infection. Currently available serological assays for TBEV and WNV infections are therefore compromised by false-positive results, especially in IgG measurements. In order to discriminate both infections novel diagnostic methods are needed. We describe an ELISA to measure IgG antibodies specif...
Barros ML, Borges AMC, Oliveira De ACS, Lacerda W, O Souza De A, Aguiar DM.The prevalence of equine infectious anaemia (EIA) in the three biomes of the state of Mato Grosso (Amazon, Cerrado and Pantanal) was estimated. Serum samples were collected from 3,858 equines in 1,067 herds between Septemberand December 2014. The agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) assay was used to detect EIA virus antibodies, and if a herd contained a seropositive animal itwas classified as a focus. The prevalence rates were 17.2% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 14.9-19.8%) for herds and 6.6% (95% CI: 5.8-7.5%) for animals. The Pantanal region showed the highest prevalence rates: 36.1% (95% CI: 3...
Wang H, Liu KJ, Sun YH, Cui LY, Meng X, Jiang GM, Zhao FW, Li JJ.Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar abortus equi (S. abortus equi) is well known as the aetiological agent of equine abortion. However, abortion caused by S. abortus equi has not been previously described in donkeys. Objective: To investigate whether S. abortus equi was correlated with an abortion outbreak consisting of 61 abortions. Methods: Investigation of the clinical cases using pathoanatomical, bacteriological, serological and molecular approaches. Methods: Autopsies on nine aborted foetuses were performed. Tissue specimens from seven aborted foetuses and two mares were cu...
Dos Santos TM, Roier ECR, Pires MS, Santos HA, Vilela JAR, Peckle M, Paulino PG, Baldani CD, Massard CL.The present study aims to determine the frequencies of Theileria equi and Anaplasma phagocytophilum antibodies among horses from the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and to detect the presence of DNA of these pathogens through molecular methods. A total of 98 serum samples of horses from the municipality of Seropedica were tested by indirect immunofluorescence antibody (IFA) to detect anti-A. phagocytophilum and anti-T. equi IgG antibodies. In addition, quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) was used to detect these pathogens in the DNA extracted from the whole blood and buffy coat of horses. Bivar...
Rissanen K, Galat M, Kovalenko G, Rodnina O, Mikharovskyi G, Must K, Jokelainen P.Horses are recognized as important hosts for the zoonotic parasite Toxoplasma gondii, mainly because meat of infected horses can be a source of human T. gondii infections. However, the baseline knowledge on equine T. gondii infections is limited and lacking from many countries. This seroepidemiological study was set in Ukraine, a country where little is known about T. gondii prevalence in any host species. Methods: We investigated 78 serum samples from horses, collected from Kyiv and Lviv regions of Ukraine, using a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and a commercial modified...
Campos JBV, André MR, Gonçalves LR, Freschi CR, Santos FM, de Oliveira CE, Piranda EM, de Andrade GB, Macedo GC, Machado RZ, Herrera HM.Brazilian Pantanal is the world´s largest wetland ecosystem, where cattle's ranching is the most important economic activity. The objective of this study was to compile some epidemiological features on equine piroplasmids from the Nhecolândia sub-region of Pantanal wetland through the evaluation of the patterns of T. equi and B. caballi infections in different groups of horses; identification of the tick species that infest horses; and to study phylogenetic relationships among Theileria equi 18S rRNA gene sequences. During October 2015, blood and serum samples were collected from 170 horses ...
Equine infectious anaemia (EIA) is a blood borne disease that is listed among the notifiable diseases of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). EIA is also regulated by the OIE for the international trading provisions and is generally subject to control programmes. Since 2011, Italy has been conducting a surveillance plan based on a three-tier diagnostic system, using a serological ELISA as screening test, an agar gel immunodiffusion test (AGIDT) as a confirmatory method, and an immunoblot (IB) as an alternative confirmatory assay for discordant results between the first two tests. As...
Sumbria D, Singla LD, Sharma A, Moudgil AD, Bal MS.The detection of Trypanosoma evansi in blood is intricate, primarily in chronic stage of infection, as the parasitaemia is often low and fluctuating. The climatic conditions of the target area of Punjab (a province of India with a total of 34,000 horses and ponies used for sports and transport) are conducive for the parasite propagation. The objective of present investigation was to assess the prevalence of T. evansi in central and western Punjab by PCR and card agglutination test (CATT/T. evansi) in relation to clinico-haematobiochemical alterations and risk factors associated with latent try...
Berlin D, Loeb E, Baneth G.Trypanosomiasis caused by Trypanosoma evansi ("Surra") is mainly a wasting disease affecting equids, camels and cattle as well as other domestic and wild animal species. In horses, infection may cause severe neurological abnormalities; however, the clinical progression, pathogenesis and molecular ante-mortem detection of this form of the disease have not been described in detail. A mare with progressive ataxia, head tilt, nystagmus and cranial nerve deficits submitted to treatment was diagnosed with central nervous system trypanosomiasis following the detection of a Trypanosoma tryposmastigote...
Mares-Guia MA, Rozental T, Guterres A, Gomes R, Almeida DN, Moreira NS, Barreira JD, Favacho AR, Santana AL, Lemos ER.Over the last recent years, the number of Q fever cases have has increased throughout the world. An epidemiological investigation was performed in the area in which the first molecular documentation of Q fever in Brazil was previously reported. Methods: Indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and PCR of Coxiella burnetii targeting the htpAB gene were performed in samples from 14 dogs (blood); 1 cat (blood); 10 goats (blood, milk, vaginal swab and anal swab); 3 sheep (blood); and 2 horses (blood). Results: Two dogs, two sheep and five goats were seroreactive. DNA was amplified from 6 milk and 2...
Ghazy AA, Shaapan RM, Abdel-Rahman EH.A total of 420 serum samples collected from horses of different ages, sexes and breeds, located at some horse farms in Egypt, were used for serological studies. A crude antigen of the locally isolated Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites from horse tissues (LA) was used for the detection of T. gondii antibodies in horses. It showed good diagnostic efficiency (38.1%) by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). To increase this efficiency, an affinity purification process was performed. Two fractions were obtained from LA by CNBr-Sepharose 4B affinity column chromatography named; unbound (LAunb) and ...
McLean RG, Calisher CH, Parham GL.Blood samples collected in September and November 1980 from 87 horses in southwestern Michigan were examined for virus isolation and for plaque-reduction neutralizing antibody against selected arboviruses. Cache Valley virus was isolated from the blood of a clinically normal horse in St Joseph County in September. The age-specific antibody prevalence for Cache Valley virus indicated enzootic transmission in the study area. The high antibody prevalence and the lack of age-specific antibody prevalence indicated sporadic, but intense, exposure to Jamestown Canyon virus. Low prevalences of antibod...
Peeters LM, Janssens S, Goddeeris BM, De Keyser K, Wilson AD, Kaufmann C, Schaffartzik A, Marti E, Buys N.Insect bite hypersensitivity (IBH) in horses represents an immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated hypersensitivity to salivary antigens from biting midges (Culicoides spp.). The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the performances of IgE ELISAs using recombinant Culicoides spp. Obsoletus group salivary gland antigens or crude whole body extracts ('ObsWBE'), C. nubeculosus recombinant proteins (Culn1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 and 10) and Obsoletus group recombinant proteins (Culo1 and 2). IgE levels were measured in plasma of 343 Warmblood horses classified as IBH-affected (n=167) and IBH-unaffected (n...
Johnstone LK, Engiles JB, Aceto H, Buechner-Maxwell V, Divers T, Gardner R, Levine R, Scherrer N, Tewari D, Tomlinson J, Johnson AL.Equine neuroborreliosis (NB), Lyme disease, is difficult to diagnose and has limited description in the literature. Objective: Provide a detailed description of clinical signs, diagnostic, and pathologic findings of horses with NB. Methods: Sixteen horses with histologically confirmed NB. Methods: Retrospective review of medical records at the University of Pennsylvania and via an ACVIM listserv query with inclusion criteria requiring possible exposure to Borrelia burgdorferi and histologic findings consistent with previous reports of NB without evidence of other disease. Results: Sixteen hors...
Lang A, de Vries M, Feineis S, Müller E, Osterrieder N, Damiani AM.A peptide-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for discrimination between serological responses to equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) and 4 (EHV-4) was developed. Three and four peptides for EHV-1 and EHV-4, respectively, were designed and studied initially in the ELISA using sera from foals infected experimentally. The most promising peptide pair, derived from EHV-1 glycoprotein E and EHV-4 glycoprotein G, was evaluated further using acute and convalescent sera from horses infected experimentally and naturally as well as a panel of horse field sera. Ten pre- and post-vaccination ser...
Castillo-Olivares J, Mansfield KL, Phipps LP, Johnson N, Tearle J, Fooks AR.West Nile virus (WNV) has re-emerged as an important pathogen for humans and horses, which are considered to be incidental 'dead-end' hosts. We have demonstrated that horses are susceptible to experimental infection with WNV and that horses infected with either WNV lineage 1 or lineage 2 elicit a similar antibody profile in serum samples. These data suggest that virus-neutralizing antibody responses persist for longer than WNV-specific IgM levels in serum and that there are not any notable differences in the antibody profile following experimental infection of horses with either WNV lineage 1 ...
Cursino AE, Vilela APP, Franco-Luiz APM, de Oliveira JG, Nogueira MF, Júnior JPA, de Aguiar DM, Kroon EG.Equine infectious anemia (EIA) has a worldwide distribution, and is widespread in Brazil. The Brazilian Pantanal presents with high prevalence comprising equine performance and indirectly the livestock industry, since the horses are used for cattle management. Although EIA is routinely diagnosed by the agar gel immunodiffusion test (AGID), this serological assay has some limitations, so PCR-based detection methods have the potential to overcome these limitations and act as complementary tests to those currently used. Considering the limited number of equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) seque...
Cybinski DH, St George TD, Paull NI.Neutralising antibody to Akabane virus was shown to develop in cattle in northern Australia throughout the year and also on the east coast of New South Wales in the summer during 1975/1976. Other species found to have antibody to Akabane virus were buffaloes, horses, camels and sheep, but no antibody was found in domestic chickens, ducks, wallabies or man. The biting midge Culicoides brevitarsis has been detected in all the major areas where antibody was demonstrated in this study.
Joó K, Bakonyi T, Szenci O, Sárdi S, Ferenczi E, Barna M, Malik P, Hubalek Z, Fehér O, Kutasi O.West Nile virus (WNV) mainly infects birds, horses and humans. Outcomes of the infection range from mild uncharacteristic signs to fatal neurologic disease. The main objectives of the present study were to measure serum IgG and IgM antibodies in naturally exposed and vaccinated horses and to compare results of haemagglutination inhibition test (HIT), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and plaque reduction neutralisation test (PRNT). Altogether 224 animals were tested by HIT for WNV antibodies and 41 horses were simultaneously examined by ELISA and PRNT. After primary screening for WNV a...
Duell JR, Carmichael R, Herrin BH, Holbrook TC, Talley J, Little SE.Ticks are common on horses, but there is a dearth of contemporary data on infestation prevalence, predominant species, and tick-borne disease agents important in this host. To determine the species of ticks most common on horses and the prevalence of equine exposure to and infection with tick-borne disease agents, ticks and blood samples were collected from 73 horses during May, June, and July of 2010. Adult ticks were identified to species, and antibodies to Ehrlichia spp., Anaplasma spp., and Borrelia burgdorferi were identified using indirect fluorescence antibody assay, a commercial point-...
Pozio E, Sofronic-Milosavljevic L, Gomez Morales MA, Boireau P, Nöckler K.We assessed a serological method for detecting Trichinella infection in horses, specifically, an ELISA using three antigens to detect anti-Trichinella IgG (i.e. a synthetic tyvelose glycan-BSA (stg-BSA) antigen, an excretory/secretory (ES) antigen, and a crude worm extract (CWE) antigen). Serum samples were collected from 2502 horses (433 live horses from Romania and 2069 horses slaughtered in Italy and originating from Italy, Poland, Romania, and Serbia). Serum samples were also taken from horses experimentally infected with different doses of T. spiralis and T. murrelli larvae, as controls. ...
Cullinane A, Quinlivan M, Nelly M, Patterson H, Kenna R, Garvey M, Gildea S, Lyons P, Flynn M, Galvin P, Neylon M, Jankowska K.In 2006 there was an outbreak of equine infectious anaemia (EIA) in Ireland. This paper describes the use of the diagnosis of clinical and subclinical cases of the disease. In acute cases the ELISAs and the immunoblot were more sensitive than the AGID. In one mare, fluctuating antibody levels were observed in all the serological assays before it seroconverted by AGID. Viral RNA and DNA were detected by RT-PCR and PCR in all the tissues from the infected animals examined postmortem. The PCR detected viral DNA in plasma regardless of the stage of the disease. In contrast, the RT-PCR detected RNA...
Pusterla N, Wattanaphansak S, Mapes S, Collier J, Hill J, Difrancesco M, Gebhart C.Equine proliferative enteropathy (EPE) is an emerging disease of weanling foals. Objective: Describe clinical, hematologic, biochemical, serologic, molecular, and ultrasonographic findings in foals experimentally infected with Lawsonia intracellularis. Methods: Eight foals. Methods: Recently weaned foals were assigned to either the challenge (n = 3), the sentinel (n = 3), or the control (n = 2) group. Foals were experimentally challenged via intragastric inoculation of 3 x 10(10)L. intracellularis organisms grown in culture. Each experimentally infected foal was housed with a sentinel foal in ...
Coultous RM, Phipps P, Dalley C, Lewis J, Hammond TA, Shiels BR, Weir W, Sutton DGM.Equine piroplasmosis (EP) has historically been of minor concern to UK equine practitioners, primarily due to a lack of competent tick vectors. However, increased detection of EP tick vector species in the UK has been reported recently. EP screening is not currently required for equine importation, and when combined with recent relaxations in movement regulations, there is an increased risk regarding disease incursion and establishment into the UK. This study evaluated the prevalence of EP by both serology and PCR among 1242 UK equine samples submitted for EP screening between February and Dec...
Lai AC, Rogers KM, Glaser A, Tudor L, Chambers T.Phylogenetic and antigenic analyses indicate that recent circulating equine-2 influenza viruses in the United States have been alternating between two genetic and antigenic distinct lineages since 1996. The evolution rates for these two lineages, the Kentucky and the Florida lineage, are very similar. For the earlier isolates in the Kentucky lineage, there are multiple and sequential nonsynonymous substitutions at antigenic sites B and D. However, there are no changes at any of these antigenic sites for KY98 and OK00. In the Florida lineage, except for NY99 with one amino acid substitution at ...
Hornok S, Edelhofer R, Földvári G, Joachim A, Farkas R.In order to evaluate the seroconversion of horses to Babesia caballi and B. canis in Hungary, blood samples were collected from 371 animals on 23 different locations of the country. The presence of antibodies to B. caballi was screened with a competitive ELISA. All 29 positive samples came from one region (the Hortobágy). The prevalence of infection did not show correlation with sexes, and reached 100% in the age group of 2-5 years. Babesia canis-specific antibodies were demonstrated by IFAT in 6.74% of animals kept in 7 regions. The titres were low or medium level (1:40 to 1:160), indicating...
The Journal of hygieneDecember 1, 1979
Volume 83, Issue 3 539-545 doi: 10.1017/s0022172400026395
Eisa M, Karrar AE, Abd Elrahim AH.To determine the presence and prevalence of bluetongue (BT) infection in a variety of domestic animal species in different geographical regions of the Sudan, a serological study using the agar gel precipitation technique was initiated. A total of 2142 serum samples were examined. Of the numbers tested approximately 28% of sheep, 11.2% of goats, 8% of cattle and 4.9% of camels were positive for group-specific antibodies to BT virus antigen, indicating previous exposure to BT infection. None of the samples tested from horses or donkeys were positive. The findings suggest that the disease is wide...
Elschner MC, Melzer F, Singha H, Muhammad S, Gardner I, Neubauer H.Glanders, caused by Burkholderia (B.) mallei is a notifiable zoonotic disease in equidae. For international trade and movement of equids, certificates of negative serological test results for antibodies against B. mallei are required. To date, the complement fixation test (CFT) is the mandatory test to issue these health certificates. The CFT is difficult to standardize and, due to its poor specificity, often leads to false-positive reactions resulting in trade restrictions with considerable financial consequences. In the present study, the new ID Screen Glanders Double Antigen Multispecies EL...
Newton JR, Verheyen K, Wood JL, Yates PJ, Mumford JA.In 1998, equine influenza was diagnosed by serology and nucleoprotein enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay as the cause of acute respiratory disease in vaccinated and unvaccinated horses in the UK. The signs were generally milder in vaccinated horses and completely susceptible animals showed the most severe signs, including pyrexia, inappetence, coughing, mucopurulent nasal discharge and secondary bacterial pneumonia. In a detailed investigation of an outbreak among 52 vaccinated thoroughbreds in a flat racing yard, more than 60 per cent of the horses seroconverted on the evidence of paired serum...
Fernández-Bellon H, Solano-Gallego L, Bardagí M, Alberola J, Ramis A, Ferrer L.Leishmania infantum infection has recently been described in horses in Europe. We report the results of a study on the immune response to L. infantum in horses living in an area endemic for leishmaniosis in NE Spain. Two ELISAs using protein A and anti-horse IgG conjugates were adapted to measure specific antibodies to L. infantum in horse sera. A lymphocyte proliferation assay (LPA) of peripheral blood mononuclear cells to L. infantum antigen was also performed to detect specific cellular immune response to Leishmania. Anti-L. infantum antibodies were detected in the serum of 16 of the horses...
Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is a zoonotic flaviviral infection that is a growing public health concern in European countries. The aims of this research were to detect and characterize tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) in Ixodes ricinus ticks at presumed natural foci in Serbia, and to determine seroprevalence of TBEV IgG antibodies in humans and animals. A total of 500 I. ricinus ticks were examined for the presence of TBEV by real-time RT-PCR, and conventional nested PCR and sequencing. To determine TBEV seroprevalence, 267 human sera samples were collected, as were 200 sera samples from ...
Palmer JE.E. risticii, the cause of classic Potomac horse fever, is now known to produce two disease syndromes: EEC and EEA. The pathogen appears to commonly infect horses based on seroepidemiologic studies; however, the method of transmission remains unknown. The most common clinical disease is EEC, commonly called Potomac horse fever, which presents a wide spectrum of clinical signs. Diagnosis is currently dependent on serology, which frequently does not lead to a definitive diagnosis and at best results in a retrospective diagnosis. A new diagnostic approach, polymerase chain reaction, may offer a ra...
Kuttler KL, Gipson CA, Goff WL, Johnson LW.Nine 4-year-old Arabian geldings were experimentally infected with Babesia equi of European origin. All horses developed detectable parasitemia an average of 30 days after they were inoculated, which was accompanied by a decrease in PCV. The infections were generally mild with no animal deaths. All horses became serologically positive by the indirect fluorescent antibody test within an average of 23 days after they were inoculated and by the complement-fixation test 30 days after they were inoculated.
de Heus P, Kolodziejek J, Hubálek Z, Dimmel K, Racher V, Nowotny N, Cavalleri JV.The emergence of West Nile virus (WNV) and Usutu virus (USUV) in addition to the autochthonous tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) in Europe causes rising concern for public and animal health. The first equine case of West Nile neuroinvasive disease in Austria was diagnosed in 2016. As a consequence, a cross-sectional seroprevalence study was conducted in 2017, including 348 equids from eastern Austria. Serum samples reactive by ELISA for either flavivirus immunoglobulin G or M were further analyzed with the plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT-80) to identify the specific etiologic age...
Burgess EC, Mattison M.Infection with Borrelia burgdorferi was associated with encephalitis in a horse. The horse lived in an area of Wisconsin endemic for B burgdorferi infection. Borrelia burgdorferi was isolated from the brain, but rabies virus was not detected in the brain. Serum obtained from the horse had a B burgdorferi antibody titer of 1:2,048, but was negative for antibodies to eastern and western encephalomyelitis.
