Description
EquiSal Tapeworm Saliva Testing Kit for Horses
The EquiSal Tapeworm Test works like a blood test but, instead, uses saliva that you collect yourself. This horse tape worm test is scientifically proven to diagnose tapeworm burdens with high accuracy – it tells you if your horse has a burden and whether you need to deworm or not. Simply incorporate tapeworm testing every six months into your targeted worm control programme. To test for tapeworm, all you need to do is collect saliva from your horse using a specially designed swab and return it to the lab using the freepost bag provided.
Routine Worming
Unfortunately, routine worming strategies can cause worms to build up resistance to survive the worming. To help ensure wormers stay effective in the future, using the EquiSal Tapeworm Test lets you know whether a wormer is needed.
Tapeworm and Horse Health
Tapeworm infections can pose a significant threat to horse health, as they have been associated with various clinical cases of colic and intestinal obstruction, as follows:-
Intussusception, a form of colic where one part of the intestine telescopes into another
Caecal perforation or rupture, leading to peritonitis, wherein contents of the caecum leak out and cause infection of the abdominal cavity (peritoneum)
Thickening of the ileo-caecal junction and mucosa, leading to intestinal obstruction due to the gut in this area moving abnormally
Intestinal obstruction, as above and can be caused by a large mass of tapeworms blocking the junction between the small and large intestine
Ileal or caecal torsion, meaning twisting of the intestines causing severe pain and obstruction.
Horses may present with recurrent colic over a few weeks, with bouts becoming more frequent and more severe. Alternatively, there may be a sudden onset of colic with severe pain. The most common problem is a mild colic due to the constricted nutrient flow as the contents of the intestines get backed up.
Larger tapeworm burdens are more likely to be of clinical significance, but even moderate burdens can result in damage to the intestinal mucosa. It has been shown that the higher the infection site in the gut, the more likely the horse is to suffer from colic. Due to the small intestinal region in which tapeworms attach (the ileocaecal junction) tapeworms tend to cluster close together, so combining into a mass large enough to cause severe lesions.
Given the correlation of infection intensity to horse intestinal health, and concerns for dewormer resistance, there is an increasingly recognised need for accurate diagnostic tests.
