Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Trypanosoma evansi infection rates in horses in Israel by blood tests
By Berlin, Dalia et al.·Published in Research in veterinary science·2012·Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Germany·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Prevalence of Trypanosoma evansi in horses in Israel evaluated by serology and reverse dot blot.
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
A survey of 614 horses in Israel found that 4.6% tested positive for Trypanosoma evansi, the parasite that causes surra, which can lead to symptoms like weight loss, swelling, or neurological issues. Most horses showed no signs of illness, but one horse did exhibit symptoms along with positive test results. The study highlighted that surra is present in various regions of Israel, particularly in areas where outbreaks have occurred before. This suggests that horse owners should be aware of this disease and discuss it with their veterinarians if their horse shows any concerning symptoms.
People also search for: horse weight loss causes · surra in horses treatment · neurological signs in horses
Abstract
Trypanosoma evansi is the cause of surra in horses, camels and other domestic animals. Following the first outbreak of surra in horses and camels in Israel in 2006, a survey of the prevalence of the parasite in the Israeli horse population was conducted using serology, PCR followed by the reverse dot blot (RDB) technique and blood smear microscopy. In total, 614 horses from 7 regions were sampled. The CATT/T. evansi kit was used for serology for all the horses. Horses from the Arava and Dead Sea region, where the first outbreak occurred, were sampled again one year later and both samples were subjected to serology and the RDB technique. The country wide seroprevalence was 4.6% (28/614). The seroprevalence in the Arava and Dead Sea region was 6.5% (9/139) in the first sampling compared with 4.1% (5/122) in the second, whereas the prevalence of RDB-positivity was 18.7% (26/139) in the first sampling and only 0.8% (1/122) in the second. All horses were asymptomatic except for one horse from the Arava and Dead Sea region that demonstrated clinical signs of surra combined with positive serology and RDB. The results of this study indicated that surra is prevalent in most regions of the country and thus should be considered an important differential diagnosis in horses and other domestic animals in Israel with chronic weight loss, edema or neurological signs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22578964/