“Since that sampling we’ve


learned there were some false positives for B. caballi with the c-ELISA test. The test is very ac- curate for T. equi (close to 100 percent sensitivity), but in the past few years more than 150 false positives have been found when testing for B. caballi. This is why scientists developed the Western Blot confi rmatory test in 2010 to differentiate truly in- fected horses from false posi- tives,” she says. In late 2008 and early 2009,


2 outbreaks occurred in Flor- ida and Missouri. The horses had clinical signs due to infec- tion with T. equi, transmitted through reuse of needles on multiple horses and blood dop- ing among horses involved in unsanctioned racing. Regulatory actions resolved both outbreaks. Another group of positive horses was discovered in October 2009 in South Texas. A mare showed clinical


signs and tested positive for the organism as well as the an- tibodies. The remaining horses on the ranch were tested and the majority were positive. In that situation the spread was by ticks. The horses were quarantined


and surrounding states required tests on incoming horses. Be- tween November 2009 and Sep- tember 2013, 231,644 horses have been tested in the U.S. as part of this movement and sur- veillance testing. “Out of those, the total number of EP positive horses is only 215, of which 185 are racehorses and the rest are previous imports,” she says.


The ticks Prior to discovery of the


62 The Cattleman January 2014 thecattlemanmagazine.com


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