Which diagnostic method is used for confirming African horse sickness in a deceased horse during post-mortem examination?

Which diagnostic method is used for confirming African horse sickness in a deceased horse during post-mortem examination?

• A. ELISA
• B. PCR on blood
• C. Skin biopsy
• D. Necropsy

Answer: (D)

The main idea here is that confirming African horse sickness in a horse that has died relies on a post-mortem process that allows direct assessment of disease and collection of the right tissues for laboratory testing. Performing a necropsy lets you systematically examine organs and look for the characteristic patterns of AHSV-related pathology, while also providing fresh tissue samples (such as lung, spleen, lymph nodes, and other tissues) that can be tested with real-time RT-PCR, virus isolation, or immunohistochemistry to confirm the presence of the virus. Serology like ELISA is better suited to detecting antibodies in living or recovered animals and can be misleading in a deceased animal. PCR on blood is possible but the blood from a recently deceased animal may not reliably reflect the infection status, and it doesn’t demonstrate tissue involvement as clearly as sampling during necropsy. Skin biopsy is not the typical or most informative specimen for confirming AHSV. Thus, necropsy is the essential procedure for confirming African horse sickness in a dead horse during post-mortem examination, because it combines pathology assessment with collection of appropriate tissues for definitive laboratory confirmation.

The main idea here is that confirming African horse sickness in a horse that has died relies on a post-mortem process that allows direct assessment of disease and collection of the right tissues for laboratory testing. Performing a necropsy lets you systematically examine organs and look for the characteristic patterns of AHSV-related pathology, while also providing fresh tissue samples (such as lung, spleen, lymph nodes, and other tissues) that can be tested with real-time RT-PCR, virus isolation, or immunohistochemistry to confirm the presence of the virus.

Serology like ELISA is better suited to detecting antibodies in living or recovered animals and can be misleading in a deceased animal. PCR on blood is possible but the blood from a recently deceased animal may not reliably reflect the infection status, and it doesn’t demonstrate tissue involvement as clearly as sampling during necropsy. Skin biopsy is not the typical or most informative specimen for confirming AHSV.

Thus, necropsy is the essential procedure for confirming African horse sickness in a dead horse during post-mortem examination, because it combines pathology assessment with collection of appropriate tissues for definitive laboratory confirmation.