Preservation of viable Taylorella equigenitalis in different commercially available transport systems.

This study focuses on how well different commercial transport swabs can maintain the viability of Taylorella equigenitalis, a bacteria causing contagious equine metritis in horses, under varying conditions for potential laboratory analysis.

About the Study

• The research was prompted by the challenge faced in transporting swabs used in the diagnosis of contagious equine metritis caused by Taylorella equigenitalis.
• The swabs need specific handling, including placement in Amies charcoal medium, refrigerating during transport and arrival at the lab within 48 hours of collection.
• The scientists investigated the performance of 11 different commercial swab transport systems to preserve T. equigenitalis at one and two days of storage either at room temperature or under refrigerated conditions.

Study Findings

• The study found that four transport systems, B, E, F (which was used as the reference) and K, were most effective.
• The four systems were further compared over different durations (0, 2, 3, 4, 7 and 10 days) under refrigeration.
• Among all, system K showed a significant statistical advantage after 10 days compared to the reference system where approximately 95% of T. equigenitalis remained viable in system K versus around 77% in system F.

Final Conclusion

• The study concluded that system K is particularly promising for preserving and transporting viable T. equigenitalis for laboratory culture.

This means it could potentially be more effective in the field, leading to better diagnosis and control of contagious equine metritis. Further studies may still be needed to confirm its effectiveness under various field conditions.