Diagnostic testing is routinely performed by the equine clinician when dealing with suspected infectious disease cases and outbreaks. Optimal sample timing, choice and handling are fundamental to attain an accurate diagnosis, and a good understanding of laboratory-based sample analysis techniques, and their validation is necessary for effective diagnostic test result interpretation. This two-part series highlights the importance of interpreting results bearing testing limitations and specific clinical findings in mind, and on these foundations, the treating clinician should always be well placed to deal with equine infectious diseases. Part 1 in this series will provide a treating clinician with an overview of the importance of testing horses in infectious disease outbreaks and how this is achieved. The different laboratory testing options available for agent detection and their methods will also be discussed. Part 2 will summarise serological (antibody) testing techniques, sample processing (including how tests are performed and validated) and result interpretation.

中文翻译：

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了解英国马传染病诊断的从业者指南。第 1 部分：如何优化采样方法和代理检测测试方法指南

在处理疑似传染病病例和爆发时，马临床医生通常会进行诊断测试。最佳的样本时间、选择和处理是获得准确诊断和充分理解基于实验室的样本分析技术的基础，并且它们的验证对于有效的诊断测试结果解释是必要的。这个由两部分组成的系列强调了在考虑到测试限制和特定临床发现的情况下解释结果的重要性，在这些基础上，治疗临床医生应该始终处于处理马传染病的有利位置。本系列的第 1 部分将概述在传染病爆发中测试马匹的重要性以及如何实现这一点。还将讨论可用于代理检测的不同实验室测试选项及其方法。第 2 部分将总结血清学（抗体）检测技术、样本处理（包括如何进行和验证检测）和结果解释。