Description
Pathogen test
- This test determines the NEV viral load of your horse by a molecular test that identifies the NEV genome in circulating blood.
- This test doesn’t determine the NEV status of your horse. An undetectable viral load doesn't mean that your horse is free of infection.
Sample
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5 mL - blood - K3 EDTA tube or 5 mL - Liquor (CSF).
Turnaround time
Knowing the NEV status and viral load of your horse can help keep your horse - and others - safe
Key points
- The New Equine Virus (NEV) is a horse lentivirus distinctive from Swamp fever virus (EIAV) and similar to HIV-1. Like in HIV infected humans NEV attacks the immune system and natural defence against illness.
- A horse infected with NEV will get weaker and weaker until it can no longer fight off life threatening infections and diseases.
- The rate at which NEV progresses varies depending on age, general health and genetic background.
Learn more about NEV
Explore results
- If NEV viral load is undetectable - No risk of transmitting NEV
An undetectable viral load means that the NEV level in the blood is too low to be detected by a viral load test. NEV positive horses can show undetectable viral loads.
Horses with NEV who maintain and undetectable viral load have effectively no risk of transmitting NEV to NEV negative horses.
A detectable viral load means that the NEV level in the blood is high to be detected by a viral load test.
Horses with NEV who maintain and detectable viral load have effectively a risk of transmitting NEV to NEV negative horses.
Take Action - Find the suggested next steps based on results.
- If your horse has a NEV detectable viral load begin by talking to your veterinarian about therapies to boost the immune system of your horse as well about antiretroviral therapy (ART). Monitoring of NEV viral load levels is crucial to evaluate disease progression and risk.
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Like with HIV, ART can’t cure NEV, but can help your horse to live a longer and healthier life. The main goal of ART is to reduce your horse’s viral load to an undetectable level.
Learn more about ART here
