Seroprevalence against Lawsonia intracellularis among Thoroughbred Horses in Korea

초록

Lawsonia intracellularis is the etiological agent behind equine proliferative enteropathy (EPE), recently identified and emerging intestinal ailment in horses. Lawsonia intracellularis is an obligate intracellular, curved, gram-negative bacterium that resides within the apical cytoplasm of infected intestinal enterocytes. Although serological studies on EPE have been conducted in several countries, the prevalence of Lawsonia intracellularis in Korea has not been reported. This study aimed to examine the seroprevalence of Lawsonia intracellularis among healthy Thoroughbred horses in Korea. In this study, 180 healthy adult Thoroughbred horses (≥2 years of age) and 8 foals (<2 years of age) were sampled from each of the four Korean provinces.Antibodies against Lawsonia intracellularis were assessed using a blocking enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Among adult horses, 78.9% (142/180) tested positive, 20% (36/180) yielded inconclusive results, and 1.1% (2/180) tested negative. Among foals, 87.5% (7/8) tested positive with 12.5% (1/8) yielding inconclusive data. The findings of this study hold significant implications in identifying the serological infection status of Lawsonia intracellularis among domestically bred Thoroughbred horses and establishing fundamental data regarding this infection in Korea. © (2024), (Elite Scientific Publications). All rights reserved.

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