CEM Study: Antibiotic-Treated Semen Can Reduce Transmission Risk

Researchers at the Gluck Equine Research Center will publish a study this fall on contagious equine metritis (CEM), a sexually transmitted disease in horses. Stallions are asymptomatic carriers of Taylorella equigenitalis, the causative agent of CEM, while mares may develop signs of an endometritis/cervicitis/vaginitis following exposure to an infection with this bacterium.
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Researchers at the Gluck Equine Research Center will publish a study this fall on contagious equine metritis (CEM), a sexually transmitted disease in horses. Stallions are asymptomatic carriers of Taylorella equigenitalis, the causative agent of CEM, while mares may develop signs of an endometritis/cervicitis/vaginitis following exposure to an infection with this bacterium.

The study set out to investigate if antibiotics in a semen extender, which is used for artificial insemination, inhibit the growth of T. equigenitalis. Preliminary results would indicate that presence of antibiotics in an extender is likely to greatly reduce the risk of spread of CEM from a carrier stallion to a mare bred by artificial insemination with contaminated semen.

The study was undertaken shortly after several Quarter Horse stallions in Kentucky tested positive in December 2008 for T. equigenitalis. All the stallions in question were used solely for breeding via artificial insemination.

To date, 21 stallions have tested positive for T. equigenitalis nationwide and a total of 715 mares were determined to have been exposed to CEM. Of the 715 mares exposed to CEM, five were confirmed carriers, of which several were reported to have developed a vaginal discharge after being bred in 2008

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