Detection of rotavirus in horses with and without diarrhea by electron microscopy and Rotazyme test.

The research article is about a study which uses electron microscopy and the Rotazyme test to detect the presence of rotavirus in horse fecal samples. The article suggests that the Rotazyme test can be a rapid, simple and accurate diagnostic tool for detecting rotavirus in horses.

Study Procedure

• The researchers collected a total of 142 equine fecal samples, which comprised 93 samples from the field and 49 experimental samples for the study.
• Of these, 86 samples were from horses with diarrhea.

Methods of Analysis

• The presence of rotavirus in these fecal samples was examined using two methods – direct electron microscopy (EM) and the Rotazyme test.
• The sensitivity and accuracy of the Rotazyme test was evaluated against EM by visual (color reaction) and spectrophotometric methods.

Study Results

• The agreement between EM and the Rotazyme test when evaluated visually was found to be 94.8% overall.
• Similarly, the agreement between EM and the Rotazyme test when evaluated by spectrophotometric methods was found to be 92.3% overall. This agreement was calculated excluding suspect reactions (marked by 1 + color reaction or net absorbance between 0.05 and 0.1).

Conclusions

• The study concluded that the Rotazyme test is a quick, simple, and accurate diagnostic test for the detection of rotavirus in equine fecal samples.
• It suggests that this test can be conveniently used by equine medical practitioners with limited laboratory resources, as well as by diagnostic and research laboratories.