Widespread occurrence of anthelmintic resistance in ascarid and strongylid parasites has led to recommendations of routine treatment efficacy screening with the faecal egg count reduction test. Furthermore, faecal egg counts are used for classifying mature horses into low, moderate and high strongylid egg shedders, and to monitor for ascarids in foals, weanlings and yearlings. The plethora of egg counting techniques is surrounded by confusion and misconception regarding their use, diagnostic performance and interpretation. This article aims to explain general concepts of evaluating and assessing faecal egg count test performance and address some of the most common misconceptions. The multiplication factor, which is used to convert the number of eggs counted under the microscope to eggs per gram of faeces, is a theoretically derived number, which does not reflect sensitivity. Accuracy and precision are quantitative performance parameters, which are not synonymous. Accuracy is a measure of how close a technique measures to the true count, and has implications for the classification of strongylid egg shedders, but will not affect anthelmintic treatment efficacy evaluation or ascarid monitoring. Precision is a measure of how close repeated counts are to each other, and affects anthelmintic efficacy estimates and strongylid shedding classification. Faecal egg counts do not correlate with worm burdens and do not inform on parasitic involvement in disease. Techniques using test tubes with cover slips placed on top tend to perform with low accuracy and precision in comparison to techniques using counting chambers. Veterinarians should consider the performance of the technique employed for determining faecal egg counts, whether they offer these in house or use a referral diagnostic service. Furthermore, they should consider the training and experience of personnel and protocols in place for diagnostic quality assurance.

中文翻译：

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马兽医实践中的寄生虫粪便卵计数

蛔虫和圆线虫寄生虫中广泛出现的驱虫抗药性导致建议使用粪便卵计数减少试验进行常规治疗效果筛查。此外，粪便卵计数用于将成熟马分类为低、中和高类圆线虫卵脱落者，并监测小马驹、断奶仔猪和一岁仔猪的蛔虫。过多的卵子计数技术在其使用、诊断性能和解释方面被混淆和误解所包围。本文旨在解释评估和评估粪便卵计数测试性能的一般概念，并解决一些最常见的误解。乘法因子，用于将显微镜下计数的卵数转换为每克粪便中的卵数，是一个理论上得出的数字，这不反映敏感性。准确度和精密度是定量的性能参数，它们不是同义词。准确性是衡量一项技术测量值与真实计数的接近程度的指标，对类圆线虫卵脱落器的分类有影响，但不会影响驱虫治疗效果评估或蛔虫监测。精确度是衡量重复计数彼此接近程度的指标，并影响驱虫药功效估计和圆线虫脱落分类。粪便卵计数与蠕虫负担无关，也不能告知寄生虫与疾病的关系。与使用计数室的技术相比，使用顶部放置有盖玻片的试管的技术往往以较低的准确度和精确度执行。兽医应考虑用于确定粪便卵子计数的技术的性能，无论他们是在内部提供这些还是使用转诊诊断服务。此外，他们应考虑人员的培训和经验以及诊断质量保证的规程。