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New IgG Field Test Speeds Up FPT Diagnosis In Neonatal Foals
7 years ago 
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“It’s not often you get to launch an equine diagnostic that’s genuinely life saving,” says Mike Fleming, CEO of Vetlab Supplies Ltd, “With FASTest® IgG Equine, vets can now give a clear-cut Failure of Passive Transfer (FPT) diagnosis at farms, stables or equestrian centres – and all in just 10 minutes”.
A true field test, the 10-pack FASTest® IgG Equine kit requires no additional equipment or refrigerated storage. Using an indirect semi-quantitative IgG antibody assay, the easy to read colour-change clearly distinguishes normal IgG levels (>8mg/ml), partial FPT (4-8mg/ml) and levels generally considered diagnostic of complete FPT (<4mg/ml).
As many as 1 in 5 new-born foals can suffer some degree of IgG FPT. Foals with no antibody protection, due to complete FTP, have an estimated 75% chance of contracting debilitating or life threatening infection. Even foals with some protection following partial FTP have only a 50% chance of resisting invaders such as Anaplasma, Giardia and Cryptosporidium.
With proven sensitivity and specificity of 97.4% and 93.6% respectively, Vetlab’s latest exclusive from Megacor Diagnostik responds equally well with anticoagulant whole blood, serum or plasma. The 30ul sample is spotted into the test window of the plastic cassette followed by a drop of diluent buffer containing soluble gold-labelled IgG.
Drawn through the cassette’s semi-permeable membrane by capillary action, complete FPT is indicated by a purple colour caused by binding of the gold-labelled IgG with fixed anti-IgG antibodies. A pink colour indicates partial FPT while the continued absence of colour confirms sufficient IgG (>8mg/ml) in the sample to out-complete the gold-labelled IgG for the membrane bound anti-IgG. A positive reaction to the in-built control line confirms correct functioning of the test procedure.
The new-born foal’s absorption of maternal antibodies is most efficient in the first 6 to 8 hours of life, effectively ceasing after 24 to 36 hours. Vets and managers of equestrian facilities have only this narrow window to recognise FPT and act to save a valuable new-born from life threatening infection.
Continued Vetlab’s Mike Fleming: “With FASTest® Equine as part of their field kit, equine vets are equipped to diagnose and treat antibody deficient foals with life-saving colostrum, colsotrum formula substitute, or administer oral or intravenous IgG, within that critical first 24 hours”.
2 days ago