Diagnostic testing patterns forsubsp.in Ontario horses during the years 2008 to 2018.

Abstract

This retrospective study describes testing patterns and the incidence ofsubsp.in Ontario to assess the utility of laboratory data for surveillance purposes. Laboratory records for equine infectious disease test submissions were extracted from the Animal Health Laboratory (AHL) at the University of Guelph for the years 2008 to 2018. Yearly and seasonal trends intesting and the proportion of tests that returned positive results were assessed. The number of samples submitted fortesting decreased over the 11-year period (odds ratio = 0.96, 95% confidence interval: 0.92 to 0.999;= 0.04). A generalized linear model identified a significant seasonal effect for animals recognized as clinically ill, with the highest test positivity noted in the winter. Although this study identified important trends in the incidence ofin Ontario, the variability in information accompanying test submissions made the data challenging to interpret, highlighting the need for more complete diagnostic submission data for.