On May 23, the National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames, IA, confirmed a positive case of Taylorella equigenitalis, the bacterium responsible for contagious equine metritis (CEM), in an 11-year-old domestic pony mare in central Florida.
Quarter Horse News stated this is the first reported positive case of CEM in the U.S. since 2013. The mare was bred by live cover on May 10 to a 3-year-old pony stallion and, after breeding, retained free fluid in her uterus. The fluid was collected for routine bacterial culture, resulting in the confirmed positive test for T. equigenitalis.
Both the mare and the stallion are under state quarantine in Florida, and the stallion has been sampled for testing at NVSL, with results pending.
CEM is a venereal disease of horses that can impact fertility in both mares and stallions. CEM is highly contagious among horses and spreads during breeding or through contact with contaminated objects, with stallions often carrying the bacteria without showing symptoms and infected mares sometimes becoming carriers. Foals born to infected or carrier mares can also become long-term carriers of the bacteria.
