Detection of pathogens in blood or feces of adult horses with enteric disease and association with outcome of colitis.
Authors: Kopper Jamie J, Willette Jaclyn A, Kogan Clark J, Seguin Alexis, Bolin Steven R, Schott Harold C
Journal: Journal of veterinary internal medicine
Summary
# Editorial Summary Identifying the causative pathogen in equine colitis remains clinically challenging, with detection rates varying significantly depending on laboratory methodology and sample type. Kopper and colleagues analysed 3,753 faecal samples and 239 paired faecal-blood samples from horses with enteric disease, finding that single pathogens or toxins were detected in 31.3% of routine submissions but 60.7% of samples from hospitalised colitis cases—a substantial difference highlighting the importance of sample selection and testing protocols. Counterintuitively, horses with a single pathogen detected had worse survival to discharge (76%) compared with those having no detectable pathogen (88%) or multiple agents (89%), though hospitalisation duration and costs remained consistent across all groups. This finding suggests that isolating a single organism may indicate a primary infectious process with poorer prognosis, whilst absence of detection or multiple concurrent findings might reflect secondary infection or dysbiosis with better compensatory capacity. For practitioners managing equine colitis, these results support comprehensive diagnostic testing but indicate that a positive single-agent result warrants careful prognostication, whilst negative or multiple-agent findings may not necessarily predict worse clinical outcomes.
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Practical Takeaways
- •A positive fecal or blood test for a single enteric pathogen in a colitis case may carry worse prognostic implications than multiple detections or negative results; interpret single-agent positives cautiously
- •Multiple pathogen detection should not be used to predict prolonged hospitalization or increased costs in colitis cases
- •Testing laboratory choice and methodology significantly impact detection rates; compare results cautiously across different diagnostic facilities
Key Findings
- •Detection rates of potential enteric pathogens or toxins varied significantly between laboratory cohorts: 31.3% at IDEXX Laboratories versus 60.7% at MSUVDL
- •In hospitalized horses with colitis, survival to discharge was paradoxically lower (76%) in horses with a single detected agent compared to horses with no agents (88%) or multiple agents (89%)
- •Detection of multiple pathogens did not affect length of hospitalization or total hospitalization costs in colitis cases