Equine sampling

- Nasopharyngeal swab collection

Aim of collecting nasopharyngeal swab

To make confirmative diagnosis of specific infection of nasopharynex.

      Material:

• Dacron Swabs with plastic sticks 5—7 inches (often supplied with bacterial transport media)

• Plain red top tube (blood tube, no additive) or viral transport media.

Nasopharyngeal swab (external matching site).

Procedure

1.     The horse should be restrained sufficiently to introduce swab in a manner safe for horse and attending personnel.

2.     If sampling more than one horse, fresh gloves should be used for each horse.

3.     Pass the swab(s) along the left or right ventral meatus being careful to avoid the false nostril (nasal diverticulum), until you are in the horse’s nasal passage. The distance is approximately similar to that from the nostril to the eye. Swallowing indicates the correct depth of swab penetration Rotate the swab to increase the collection of respiratory secretions for at least 5 seconds. Two swabs can be done at the same time if more than one sample is needed by the laboratory. Some labs request one sample for qPCR and one for viral isolation. The dirt often inhibits PCR analysis. Alternatively, clean the nostril to be collected with a disposable cloth prior to swab collection.

 5. Consider all waste materials and protective equipment to be infectious (gloves, gowns, packaging and swabs).

6. Any restraining equipment such as twitches, nose chains, and lead ropes must be disinfected between uses.

7. Keep tubes refrigerated and ship on ice overnight to a diagnostic laboratory of your choice.