Seroepidemiological detection and Culture Utilization for Diagnosis of Carrier Horses and Donkeys with Strangles

This study was aimed for detection of carrier equines with strangles disease through identification of anti-Streptococcus equi antibodies in blood sera of apparently healthy horses and donkeys that inhabitant in different regions belonging to three Iraqi provinces. For this purpose, an overall of 462 equine animals (308 horses and 154 donkeys) were submitted for examining by using of indirect- ELISA that revealed on 22.29% total positive infections, comprised from 29.87% seropositive horses and 7.14% seropositive donkeys. In addition, the culture results of nasopharyngeal swabs samples that obtained, randomly, from 30 horses, seropositively, were revealed on 86.76% positive samples. In horses, the seropositive results in Baghdad, Al-Qadisiyah and Wasit provinces were 28.13%, 30.27% and 30.37%, respectively; while in donkeys; they were 9.41% and 4.35% in Al-Qadisiyah and Wasit provinces, respectively. The seroprevalence in worker and races horses were 30.96% and 18.52% of, respectively, while in age groups, they were 47.54% and 25.51% in of ≤ 3 years and 3 years groups, respectively. Also, the seropositive results were 28.68% in males and 30.81% in females; whereas, they were 33.49% of seropositive horses with a history of respiratory signs and 21.88% without it.