Strangles in Horses: Interpreting Gold-Standard Test Results

Researchers found that while any of the three tested qPCR diagnostic approaches can be effective in diagnosing true strangles cases, one stood out.
Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

strangles in horses
Strangles can spread through horse barns with ease. Thus, it’s important that veterinarians diagnose it quickly and accurately to prevent outbreaks. | Photo: Courtesy Animal Health Trust

An infectious respiratory disease caused by Streptococcus equi subspecies equi bacteria, strangles in horses spreads with ease. Thus, it’s important that veterinarians diagnose it quickly and accurately to prevent outbreaks. They have two methods of doing so: culture and the more reliable qPCR test, which detects bacterial and viral DNA.

Nicola Pusterla, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVIM, professor of medicine and epidemiology at the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine, reviewed these methods and their efficacy at the 2018 American Association of Equine Practitioners Convention, held Dec. 1-5 in San Francisco, California.

In recent years, he said, qPCR has supplanted traditional S. equi culture as the gold-standard diagnostic test for strangles in horses. While culture is convenient and cost-effective, it’s time-consuming and can produce false negatives. The qPCR test is much faster, with better sensitivity and specificity (ability to accurately identify results). The results, however, can be difficult to interpret, said Pusterla, as veterinarians often can’t determine whether it has detected a dead—indicating past exposure or infection—or live organism

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Written by:

Alexandra Beckstett, a native of Houston, Texas, is a lifelong horse owner who has shown successfully on the national hunter/jumper circuit and dabbled in hunter breeding. After graduating from Duke University, she joined Blood-Horse Publications as assistant editor of its book division, Eclipse Press, before joining The Horse. She was the managing editor of The Horse for nearly 14 years and is now editorial director of EquiManagement and My New Horse, sister publications of The Horse.

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

Where do you primarily feed your horse?
340 votes · 340 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!