Researchers Itching to Find New Equine Skin Allergy Tests

Researchers are trying to find better ways to test for skin hypersensitivities in horses for improved relief.
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Cornell University veterinarians are trying to find better ways to test for skin hypersensitivities (allergies), which affect approximately 3-5% of the equine population, so they can ultimately improve relief for these itchy animals.

Skin allergies are economically important, aesthetically displeasing, and distressing to the horse, owner, and treating veterinarian. Largely due to the lack of efficient or efficacious tests for skin allergies, horses aren’t typically diagnosed until they’ve developed advanced pruritis (itchiness) and alopecia (hair loss), often in combination with secondary bacterial infections of the skin.

According to a recent study performed by Bettina Wagner, DVM, PhD, and colleagues from the Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, two types of tests are currently available to test horses for allergies: intradermal (in the skin) testing and serological (blood) tests. Using these techniques, 10 horses were tested for 61 common equine allergens, including Culicoides (a genus of biting midge), grasses, and pollens.

"While the blood test evaluated in this study provided only limited diagnostic information, intradermal skin testing can also be difficult to interpret because allergic horses often show numerous positive reactions," reported Wagner. In addition, intradermal testing can be costly, labor-intensive, and it requires shipping the horse to a testing facility

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Written by:

Stacey Oke, MSc, DVM, is a practicing veterinarian and freelance medical writer and editor. She is interested in both large and small animals, as well as complementary and alternative medicine. Since 2005, she’s worked as a research consultant for nutritional supplement companies, assisted physicians and veterinarians in publishing research articles and textbooks, and written for a number of educational magazines and websites.

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