EXOone Rhodococcus equi vapA

Description

Rhodococcus equi is a Gram-positive, facultative intracellular bacterium commonly found in soil and the environment, particularly in areas contaminated with animal manure. It is an important pathogen of foals and can also infect other animal species.
The bacterium is primarily associated with pyogranulomatous pneumonia in young horses, often accompanied by abscess formation and systemic dissemination. Infection can lead to significant economic losses due to treatment costs, reduced performance and mortality in affected foals.
Conventional detection methods based on culture do not differentiate virulent from avirulent strains. Real-time PCR enables rapid, sensitive and specific detection of virulence-associated genes directly from clinical samples, supporting analytical detection and monitoring.
This assay targets the vap (virulence-associated protein) gene, a key virulence marker carried by pathogenic R. equi strains. Detection of the vap gene enables the identification of virulent strains associated with disease, improving the assessment of the clinical relevance of R. equi detected in a sample.