Has anyone had an ELISA blood test for tapeworm?

[brightmount]

I'm still reeling from the shock of the result that came back for my horse. I just had the ELISA test as a casual check before worming her, and I had a fecal egg count done as well.

Well the fecal egg count had gone up from 50 (low) to 175 (moderate) in 2 months, but she also returned a high ELISA result. I didn't know how high as the vet only phoned me and I wormed her straight away with Pramox (if I hadn't had the test it would have only been Equest in January). Anyway I requested a copy of the lab result and it shows a count of 1.761 O.D. and anything over 0.6 is high

So she was really high - and that was despite a double dose of Strongid-P in October and her previous tapewormer prior to that was Equimax last April, after which she colicked (though not since).

So it's not like she hasn't been wormed for tapeworm and I just wonder how quickly a result like that can accumulate in the blood, especially during what is supposed to be a dormant time of year.

I'm going to get bloods done again in a while to check the Pramox has done its job, but I don't know whether there is a time-lag for the count to go back down as I understand it records tapeworm antibody. Does anyone know how long that stays in the system after the worm problem is dealt with? And how long after getting infected would it be before a positive result would be picked up in the blood?

I don't know anyone who has done an ELISA test, or even a fecal egg count for that matter, apart from you enlightened lot on here. Even the vet gave me the impression I was the first to request one!

A little knowledge can really kick off a lot of stress. The horse is a picture of health by the way!

 

[lilym]

my welsh cob had and ELISA test as my vet was triailing it, he came back negative..he is also <50 on his egg counts...

to help answer your questions...pramox is a combination of moxidectin and praziquantal it helps prevent re-infection for upto 13 weeks, there is no known resistance to either of these drugs, so it would be highly important to re run the ELISA test to check it has done it's job. - your vet will advise the best time to repeat the test.

I know you more than likely are....but i have to ask!! are you worming your horse according to his bodyweight?? it's surprising how many people just guess...

i would ask your vet to interpret the results...it could simply be that your horse is more sensitive to tapeworms and therefore produces more antibodies... good luck and keep me posted, i would be very interested to hear the outcome..