{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,24]],"date-time":"2026-07-24T04:58:32Z","timestamp":1784869112805,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,28]],"date-time":"2024-03-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1711584000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,28]],"date-time":"2024-03-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1711584000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Parasites Vectors"],"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Equine piroplasmosis is caused by two tick-borne protozoan parasites,\n                      <jats:italic>Theileria equi<\/jats:italic>\n                      and\n                      <jats:italic>Babesia caballi,<\/jats:italic>\n                      , which are clinically relevant in susceptible horses, donkeys, and mules. Moreover, equine piroplasmosis significantly constrains international trading and equestrian events. Rapidly diagnosing both parasites in carrier animals is essential for implementing effective control measures. Here, a rapid immunochromatographic test for the simultaneous detection of antibodies to\n                      <jats:italic>T. equi<\/jats:italic>\n                      and\n                      <jats:italic>B. caballi<\/jats:italic>\n                      was evaluated using samples from horses and donkeys collected in Greece, Israel, and Italy. The results were compared with an improved competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA) for detecting antibodies to both parasites using the same panel of samples.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Blood samples were collected from 255 horses and donkeys. The panel consisted of 129 horses sampled at four locations in northern Greece, 105 donkeys sampled at four locations in Sicily, and 21 horses sampled at two locations in Israel. The rapid test and the cELISA were performed according to the manufacturer\u2019s instructions, and the results were subjected to a statistical analysis to determine the sensitivity and specificity of both tests and their association.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      The immunochromatographic test provided a result within 15\u00a0min and can be performed in the field, detecting both pathogens simultaneously. The overall coincidence rate between the rapid test and the cELISA for detecting antibodies against\n                      <jats:italic>T. equi<\/jats:italic>\n                      was 93% and 92.9% for\n                      <jats:italic>B. caballi<\/jats:italic>\n                      . The rapid test\u2019s sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) for\n                      <jats:italic>T. equi<\/jats:italic>\n                      were above 91.5%. Sixteen samples were positive for both parasites in the rapid test and eight in the cELISA. Either test had no significant association between\n                      <jats:italic>T. equi<\/jats:italic>\n                      and\n                      <jats:italic>B. caballi<\/jats:italic>\n                      detection. The detection rates of both parasites were significantly higher in Italy than in Greece or Israel and in donkeys than in horses. The agreement for\n                      <jats:italic>T. equi<\/jats:italic>\n                      between the results of both tests was high in Greece (93.8%) and Italy (95.2%) and moderate in Israel (76.2%). For\n                      <jats:italic>B.<\/jats:italic>\n                      caballi, the specificity and NPV of the rapid test were high (94.2% and 98.3%, respectively), although the sensitivity and PPV were moderate (69.2% and 39.1%, respectively) due to the small sample size. However, for\n                      <jats:italic>B. caballi<\/jats:italic>\n                      , the sensitivity was higher with the rapid test.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      The rapid test detected\n                      <jats:italic>T. equi<\/jats:italic>\n                      and\n                      <jats:italic>B. caballi<\/jats:italic>\n                      simultaneously in the field, potentially replacing laborious cELISA testing and is recommended for import\/export purposes. The test can also be helpful for the differential diagnosis of clinical cases, since seropositivity may rule out equine piroplasmosis since it does not indicate current or active infection.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Graphical Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1186\/s13071-024-06253-1","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,28]],"date-time":"2024-03-28T13:02:01Z","timestamp":1711630921000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Diagnostic performance of a rapid immunochromatographic test for the simultaneous detection of antibodies to Theileria equi and Babesia caballi in horses and donkeys"],"prefix":"10.1186","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Frans","family":"Jongejan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Cheng","family":"Du","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Elias","family":"Papadopoulos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Valeria","family":"Blanda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Santina","family":"Di Bella","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Vincenza","family":"Cannella","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Annalisa","family":"Guercio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Domenico","family":"Vicari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sharon","family":"Tirosh-Levy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Amir","family":"Steinman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gad","family":"Baneth","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sanna","family":"van Keulen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Iris","family":"Hulsebos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Laura","family":"Berger","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaojun","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"6253_CR1","first-page":"1","volume":"9","author":"S Tirosh-Levy","year":"2020","unstructured":"Tirosh-Levy S, Gottlieb Y, Fry LM, Knowles DP, Steinman A. 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In Greece, the study was part of the veterinary parasitology diagnostic outreach program of the School of Veterinary Medicine of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. In Israel, the study was approved by the Internal Research Review Committee of the Koret School of Veterinary Medicine\u2014Veterinary Teaching Hospital (KSVM-VTH\/23_2014). Export permission was granted by the Director of Veterinary Service in Israel. Ethics approval was obtained from the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sicilia in Palermo, Sicily, Italy, for sampling the Ragusano donkeys.","order":2,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Ethics approval and consent to participate"}},{"value":"Not applicable.","order":3,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Consent for publication"}},{"value":"The authors declare no competing interests.","order":4,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Competing interests"}}],"article-number":"160"}}