Horsetalk.co.nz German tapeworm study shines spotlight on prevalence of parasite
Carriage horses working near Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam near Berlin.
Antibodies against tapeworms were found in nearly 30% of saliva samples taken from nearly 400 horses in the wider Berlin area, indicating an infection rate many times higher than that shown by fecal analysis.
It is well recognised that, since the eggs from tapeworms are not evenly distributed in dung, fecal analysis is not reliable for the detection of this parasite.
Even so, the differences in results between fecal testing and analysis of serum and saliva samples for antibodies against the parasite provided marked contrasts.