A test designed to detect evidence of tapeworms in horses’ saliva developed by British researchers is now available for purchase in the United States.

Last year, The Horse spoke with Corrine Austin, PhD, of Austin Davis Biologics Ltd, in Great Addington, U.K., and recapped the research behind the test. Austin and her colleagues began research for developing a saliva test in 2011. Two years later, they analyzed saliva and blood collected from more than 100 horses at a U.K. slaughterhouse. They then compared those results with the number of tapeworms present during a physical examination of the intestinal tract of the horses post-mortem.

They found that their saliva test (developed based on ELISA testing) was accurate in detecting tapeworm presence. It was also strongly consistent with the ELISA-based blood test’s results, she said.

The commercially available EquiSal Tapeworm test (patent granted) provides a low, borderline, or moderate/high diagnosis. The manufacturer recommends targeted deworming for horses diagnosed as borderline or moderate/high