ARS | Publication request: IMPROVED DIAGNOSTICS FOR EQUINE PIROPLASMOSIS SURVEILLANCE AND CONTROL PROGRAMS

Submitted to: Meeting Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: December 1, 2005
Publication Date: January 21, 2006
Citation: Goff, W.L., Rhalem, A., Lasri, S., Johnson, W.C., Sahibi, H., Knowles Jr, D.P. 2006. Improved diagnostics for equine piroplasmosis surveillance and control programs. 9th Congress of the World Equine Veterinary Association. p.265-266.

Interpretive Summary: Newly developed diagnostic tests for equine piroplasmosis, a disease affecting horses of international importance to the movement of animals, were developed and transferred to a company for commercialization. These tests have been approved by the official international standards body and the USDA for use in surveillance and regulatory import/export requirements. This report summarizes the recent activities in this regard emphasizing the superiority of the tests over the previous official tests.

Technical Abstract: Equine piroplasmosis or babesiosis is an infectious, tick-borne disease of Equidae caused by the hemoparasites, Babesia (Theileria) equi and Babesia caballi. The disease occurs in much of the world and has a major impact in restricting trade. A number of diagnostic tests have been used in the past but all suffer from serious drawbacks. For this reason, efforts to improve serologic assays have resulted in the development of a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA) for detection of both B.(T.) equi and B. caballi-specific serum antibody. A major attribute of the cELISA is the ability to standardize the assay as well as easily distribute it among laboratories. The assays have been validated, demonstrated to be effective in a number of countries and thus adopted by the OIE as the standard, and approved by the USDA as the official diagnostic assay.