Breakthrough Blood Test Quickly Detects Infection in a Horse’s Body

Heinrich Anhold, BSc, PhD using the StableLab to test a horse's bloodwork for signs of infection. Photo courtesy of StableLab. Heinrich Anhold, BSc, PhD using the StableLab to test a horse's bloodwork for signs of infection. Photo courtesy of StableLab.

What if you could quickly and accurately confirm whether your horse is healthy enough to compete, even if he shows no clinical signs of injury or illness? An Irish scientist has developed a simple stall side blood test to detect Serum Amyloid A (SAA), a protein released by the body in response to inflammation and infection.

“At times you’re unsure if your horse is unhealthy or not,” said Heinrich Anhold, BSc, PhD, founder and CEO of StableLab. “If you had a question – if the horse coughed or didn’t feel right – we didn’t have access to immediate blood testing, which is typically what the vet would want to do straight away when you report horse may be a little off, even if it had a cough or temperature.”

StableLab detects and measures SAA within approximately ten minutes, right there at the stall, eliminating the need to take samples to a lab for testing, which can take anywhere from 30 minutes to a full day to receive results.

There are three different ways Heinrich says the StableLab could be useful for eventers:

  1. Pre-competition screening or post shipping
  2. To confirm or rule out infection if the horse is coughing or has a swollen limb or fever
  3. Monitor an animal’s response to antibiotic treatment
Test results are returned in about ten minutes using the StableLab. The blood doesn't have to be sent to a lab, it can be done right there at the stall. Photo courtesy of StableLab.

Test results are returned in about ten minutes using the StableLab. Photo courtesy of StableLab.

Heinrich explained that some people will only test SAA after a horse spikes a temperature in order to understand if it is an infection or just shipping stress, for example. Others will test after shipping and before competitions as a protocol.

Because SAA levels increase rapidly after the onset of infection or severe trauma, it is useful in ensuring early stage treatment and can be used to monitor whether or not a particular treatment is working.

“If a horse has an active infection, protein is produced. When you treat it with an antibiotic, you can tell if it’s working by monitoring the level of SAA. If it really works and knocks out the infection, the protein stops being produced entirely. If it doesn’t, you know the antibiotic is not completely effective,” Heinrich explained.

Heinrich and the StableLab team are working to develop additional handheld tests, including a test for tying up. “We aim to create a platform for stall side testing whereby all of the relevant information can be generated stall side.”

See StableLab in action in this short documentary filmed at top race trainer Graham Motion’s Herringswell Stables training facility at Palm Meadows, Florida.