摘要：Lancefield's group C streptococci often contaminate test samples taken from open lesions of the equine disease strangles, and it is difficult to distinguish the causal agent, Streptococcus equi (S. equi), from these other streptococci on the isolation plate. Here we have developed a microplate sugar-fermentation assay that distinguishes S. equi from other streptococci of Lancefield's group C. Within 18 hr of incubation, the assay distinguished between 19 strains of S. equi, 171 strains of Streptococcus zooepidemicus and 19 strains of Streptococcus equisimilis, which were isolated from clinical horse samples and identified by API 20 STREP and Western immunoblotting. Moreover, this microplate assay can simultaneously test up to 24 samples, and is therefore valuable for the diagnosis of strangles.
