In conclusion, the PCR protocol described in this prelim-inary work is suitable for rapid identification of hSDSE and eSDSE. Considering that humans and some animal specieslives of ten in a close contact, the correct identification ofhSDSE and eSDSE strains is important for epidemiologi-cal purposes, for verifying the host-specificity of SDSE, forevaluating the zoonotic potential of the equine strains, and for supporting investigation of genomic differences among strains isolated from humans and horses.