Horse owners often ask about tapeworms and testing for them with a fecal egg count. Currently, there is no reliable test for tapeworms that uses the stool.
Several studies are underway to develop a better test for tapeworms. There is a blood test for antibodies that can tell us if a horse has been exposed to tapeworms but cannot tell us if the horse has tapeworms at the present time.
Mites Make Transmission Possible
Horsemen's Laboratory does occasionally find tapeworm eggs in fecal samples, so it’s reasonable to assume that it is possible for tapeworms to be spread among horses pastured together. When horses pass tapeworm segments containing eggs in the pasture, tiny mites eat those segments, ingesting the head of the tapeworm.
These mites will then climb up on the grass and be eaten by the horses where the life cycle of the tapeworm will be completed. Transmission from horse to horse cannot occur unless the mite is present, and the mite cannot survive and reproduce unless the climatological conditions are just right.
Why All the Sudden Interest in Tapeworms?
We have known for years that horses have tapeworms, their presence confirmed by necropsy (animal autopsy on a horse that had died), but gave little attention to them.
Now that medication has been developed to treat them, tapeworms are receiving increased attention because they are being credited with causing the colic. However, there is still considerable disagreement among researchers and veterinarians as to whether or not tapeworms actually cause colic.
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