Accuracy of an indirect fluorescent-antibody test and of a complement-fixation test for the diagnosis of Babesia caballi in field samples from horses.
Abstract: We evaluated the indirect fluorescent-antibody (IFA) test and complement-fixation (CF) test for diagnosis of equine piroplasmosis in the absence of a gold standard. Using Evan's blue, we estimated the specificity of the IFA test on a parasite-free, field horse population to be 98% (95% confidence interval=97, 99). We observed an excellent test agreement (kappa=0.83) between two collaborating laboratories when the IFA test was performed on identical samples from an endemic area. Using Bayesian analysis with informative prior probability distributions, we estimated the sensitivity of the IFA test to be 92% (95% probability interval, PI=81, 98), and specificity to be 95% (95% PI=88, 99). The CF test sensitivity and specificity estimates were 28% (95% PI=15, 47) and 99% (95% PI=96, 100), respectively. We found the IFA to be superior to the CF test, and the inclusion of Evan's blue in test protocol improved the performance of the IFA test. We conclude that the IFA test for Babesia caballi is a sensitive and specific test for the diagnosis of equine piroplasmosis.
Publication Date: 2007-08-20 PubMed ID: 17707933DOI: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2007.06.009Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Evaluation Study
- Journal Article
- Research Support
- Non-U.S. Gov't
Summary
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The research article investigates the effectiveness of two diagnostic tests, the indirect fluorescent-antibody (IFA) test and the complement-fixation (CF) test, in detecting equine piroplasmosis, a disease in horses caused by the parasite Babesia caballi. The results showed that the IFA test was more accurate and reliable compared to the CF test.
Research Objective and Method
- The primary purpose of this research was to evaluate the accuracy of the indirect fluorescent-antibody (IFA) test and the complement-fixation (CF) test in diagnosing equine piroplasmosis, a horse disease caused by the parasite Babesia caballi. The assessment of these tests was executed in the absence of a gold standard, a test that is acknowledged as definitive in determining disease presence.
- The researchers utilized Evan’s blue, a dye that could bind to proteins in the plasma, to estimate the specificity of the IFA test in a parasite-free horse population.
- The evaluation of the tests was also carried out by observing the agreement between two independent laboratories performing the IFA test on identical field samples obtained from an endemic area.
- Bayesian analysis, a statistical method incorporating prior knowledge about the population parameters, was used with informative prior probability distributions to estimate the sensitivity and specificity of both tests.
Key Findings
- The research found a high specificity of 98% for the IFA test within a horse population that was free of parasites, showing that the IFA test was very accurate in ruling out disease cases when it was absent.
- An outstanding agreement was observed between the test results of two labs when the IFA test was conducted on identical samples, underscoring its consistency.
- For the IFA test, the estimated sensitivity (ability to correctly identify positives) was 92%, and specificity (ability to correctly identify negatives) was 95%. These high percentages show the IFA test as effective in both confirming the disease and ruling it out.
- By contrast, the CF test was found to have lower sensitivity (28%), although it had high specificity (99%). This suggests that while the CF test was very good at ruling out the disease when it was absent, it was much less competent at confirming the disease when it was present.
- The research concluded that the IFA test is superior to the CF test in diagnosing equine piroplasmosis and that incorporating Evan’s blue into the IFA test protocol improves its performance.
Cite This Article
APA
Ogunremi O, Halbert G, Mainar-Jaime R, Benjamin J, Pfister K, Lopez-Rebollar L, Georgiadis MP.
(2007).
Accuracy of an indirect fluorescent-antibody test and of a complement-fixation test for the diagnosis of Babesia caballi in field samples from horses.
Prev Vet Med, 83(1), 41-51.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2007.06.009 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Centre for Food-borne and Animal Parasitology, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Saskatoon Laboratory, 116 Veterinary Road, Saskatoon, Canada, S7N 2R3. dogunremi@inspection.gc.ca
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Antibodies, Protozoan / blood
- Babesia / immunology
- Babesiosis / diagnosis
- Babesiosis / veterinary
- Evans Blue
- Fluorescent Antibody Technique / veterinary
- Horse Diseases / blood
- Horse Diseases / diagnosis
- Horse Diseases / parasitology
- Horses
- Predictive Value of Tests
- Sensitivity and Specificity
Citations
This article has been cited 8 times.- Yang G, Chen K, Guo W, Hu Z, Qi T, Liu D, Wang Y, Du C, Wang X. Development of a Test Card Based on Colloidal Gold Immunochromatographic Strips for Rapid Detection of Antibodies against Theileria equi and Babesia caballi. Microbiol Spectr 2022 Feb 23;10(1):e0241121.
- Torres R, Hurtado C, Pérez-Macchi S, Bittencourt P, Freschi C, de Mello VVC, Machado RZ, André MR, Müller A. Occurrence and Genetic Diversity of Babesia caballi and Theileria equi in Chilean Thoroughbred Racing Horses. Pathogens 2021 Jun 7;10(6).
- Tirosh-Levy S, Gottlieb Y, Fry LM, Knowles DP, Steinman A. Twenty Years of Equine Piroplasmosis Research: Global Distribution, Molecular Diagnosis, and Phylogeny. Pathogens 2020 Nov 8;9(11).
- Guidi E, Pradier S, Lebert I, Leblond A. Piroplasmosis in an endemic area: analysis of the risk factors and their implications in the control of Theileriosis and Babesiosis in horses. Parasitol Res 2015 Jan;114(1):71-83.
- Roeber F, Jex AR, Gasser RB. Next-generation molecular-diagnostic tools for gastrointestinal nematodes of livestock, with an emphasis on small ruminants: a turning point?. Adv Parasitol 2013;83:267-333.
- Roeber F, Jex AR, Gasser RB. Advances in the diagnosis of key gastrointestinal nematode infections of livestock, with an emphasis on small ruminants. Biotechnol Adv 2013 Dec;31(8):1135-52.
- Hacilarlioglu S, Bilgic HB, Karagenc T, Aydin HB, Toker H, Kanlioglu H, Pekagirbas M, Bakirci S. Molecular Detection and Prevalence of Equine Piroplasmosis and Other Blood Parasites in Equids of Western Aegean Türkiye. Vet Sci 2025 Aug 27;12(9).
- Jia Z, Zhang Y, Zhao D, Wang H, Yu M, Liu Z, Zhang X, Cui J, Wang X. Research progress on diagnostic techniques for different Babesia species in persistent infections. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2025;15:1575227.
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