Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of antibodies to Anoplocephala perfoliata in horse sera.

A scolex antigen of the horse tapeworm Anoplocephala perfoliata containing at least 14 different proteins was employed in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detection of antibodies to A. perfoliata in equine sera. The assay was applied to sera from 426 slaughtered horses with different numbers of worms and with varying degrees of intestinal lesions. As measured by the ELISA, there was a very strong effect on the antibody levels both from the number of tapeworms present and from the intestinal lesion score. However, considerable individual variation was observed between horses with similar worm counts. The ELISA values of horses that were either negative for strongyles and tapeworms or positive only for strongyles were similar, whereas both of these groups differed significantly from animals that harboured only A. perfoliata. Thus it seemed that cross-reactivity with concurrent nematode infections did not occur. Furthermore, a significant seasonal pattern in antibody levels was observed which reflected the establishment of newly acquired infections. No observations were made of confounding effects owing to age and previous anthelmintic treatment of the horses. It is concluded that the ELISA presented here has a potential for monitoring A. perfoliata infection on a herd level and can be used as a complementary diagnostic tool in epidemiological studies. The present study indicates that transmission of A. perfoliata in Central Sweden occurred during a short period in spring and more consistently in late autumn.