Piroplasmosis Testing

Piroplasmosis is an infectious, tick-borne disease caused by one of two parasites, Babesia equi or Babesia caballi, which attack and destroy red blood cells in horses. The mortality rate can be as high as 20% among susceptible animals. Recovered horses become chronic carriers without clinical signs. The only treatment (a type of chemotherapy) is not always succesful, and it can

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Piroplasmosis is an infectious, tick-borne disease caused by one of two parasites, Babesia equi or Babesia caballi, which attack and destroy red blood cells in horses. The mortality rate can be as high as 20% among susceptible animals. Recovered horses become chronic carriers without clinical signs. The only treatment (a type of chemotherapy) is not always succesful, and it can have serious side effects in some horses.

Piroplasmosis is found in nearly every country in the world except the United States, Canada, Australia, England, Ireland, Japan, and Iceland. It is estimated that only 10% of the world’s horse population is naïve (has not been exposed to or developed antibodies to one or both parasites). Therefore, it is crucial to the naïve U.S. horse population to screen horses from around the world before allowing them into the United States.

A new blood test for piroplasmosis was unveiled by the USDA in early 2004. The competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (CELISA) was described as more sensitive that the complement fixation test (CFT), which has been the screening test for piroplasmosis for many years. (There is one other test for piroplasmosis, an indirect immunofluorescent antibody test, but it is complicated and does not lend itself to testing large numbers of samples.)

The CFT does give a percentage of false negatives; a carrier horse might test negative even when it has antibodies in the blood. Therefore, the concern is that the United States has allowed (or continues to allow) carrier horses to enter the country and become focal points for spreading the disease. The CELISA, which detects a different class of antibody to the CFT, was said to have a greater chance of identifying chronically infected horses. Furthermore, it is more sensitive than the CFT and can pick up smaller amounts of antibody that the horse produces to fight off the parasite

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The Horse: Your Guide To Equine Health Care is an equine publication providing the latest news and information on the health, care, welfare, and management of all equids.

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