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The main source of infection for foals is through transmammary transmission, and foals can develop acute diarrhoea, weakness, dermatitis and respiratory signs. The epidemiology of <jats:italic>S. westeri<\/jats:italic> in Australia is largely unknown. Further, molecular techniques have never been employed for detection of <jats:italic>S. westeri<\/jats:italic> in horses. This pilot study aimed to assess the utility of a molecular phylogenetic method for the detection of <jats:italic>S. westeri<\/jats:italic> in the faeces of foals.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>Faecal samples were collected from a foal of less than 2 months of age, and eggs of <jats:italic>Strongyloides<\/jats:italic> sp. were detected using the modified McMaster technique. DNA was extracted from purified eggs, and a partial fragment of the small subunit of the nuclear ribosomal DNA (18S) was characterised using polymerase chain reaction, DNA sequencing and phylogenetic methods.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>Microscopic examination of faeces revealed small ellipsoidal eggs typical of <jats:italic>Strongyloides<\/jats:italic> sp. The 18S sequence generated by PCR in this study revealed 98.4% identity with that of a reference sequence of <jats:italic>S. westeri<\/jats:italic> available from GenBank. Phylogenetic analyses revealed a polyphyletic clustering of <jats:italic>S. westeri<\/jats:italic> sequences.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>This is the first study reporting the detection of DNA of <jats:italic>Strongyloides<\/jats:italic> sp. in faeces of a foal using a molecular phylogenetic approach targeting the variable region of 18S rDNA. It is anticipated that this study will allow future molecular epidemiological studies on <jats:italic>S. westeri<\/jats:italic> in horses.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Graphical abstract<\/jats:title>\n                \n              <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1186\/s13071-021-04966-1","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,3]],"date-time":"2021-09-03T08:14:04Z","timestamp":1630656844000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Molecular detection of Strongyloides sp. in Australian Thoroughbred foals"],"prefix":"10.1186","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Ghazanfar","family":"Abbas","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Abdul","family":"Ghafar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Anson V.","family":"Koehler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jenni","family":"Bauquier","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Edwina J. 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