Topic:Contagious Equine Metritis
Contagious Equine Metritis (CEM) is a venereal disease in horses caused by the bacterium Taylorella equigenitalis. It primarily affects the reproductive tract of mares, leading to inflammation and potentially impacting fertility. Stallions can carry the bacterium asymptomatically, acting as vectors for transmission during breeding. Diagnosis of CEM involves bacterial culture, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, and serological assays. Control measures include quarantine, testing, and treatment of infected animals. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that investigate the epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnostic methods, and management strategies for Contagious Equine Metritis in equine populations.
Murine infection model for contagious equine metritis: a new venereal disease of horses. An infection model in laboratory mice for studying the bacterium (proposed name Haemophilus equigenitalis) causing contagious equine metritis is described. Small porous chambers were implanted subcutaneously into mice and after 1 to 3 weeks were inoculated with H equigenitalis. Infections that persisted for > 30 days were established by direct transfer of infective chamber fluid or by injection of laboratory-grown cultures. Immunization of mice with formaldehyde-treated cells induced significant, strain-related immunity to infection and did not appear to require complement as a protection medi...
Observations on vaccine and post-infection immunity in contagious equine metritis. The vaccination of four ponies on two occasions with a formolised culture of Haemophilus equigenitalis produced a high circulating antibody titre to the organism in each pony. Three out of four vaccinated and all of three unvaccinated ponies developed typical symptoms of contagious equine metritis (CEM) when subsequently challenged with a vaginal exudate containing H equigenitalis. Similarly, three ponies which had previously been infected with H equigenitalis and which had recovered spontaneously also developed contagious equine metritis when rechallenged with the organism. The clinical and b...
[Bacteriological studies of Haemophilus equigenitalis Taylor 1978, the causative organism of contagious equine metritis 1977 (author’s transl)]. The cultural, biochemical, antigenic and antibiotic susceptibility characteristics of 17 strains of Haemophilus equigenitalis, the causative organism of contagious equine metritis (CEM), were studied. Biochemical characteristics were investigated using both conventional method and the API ZYM system of enzyme detection. The biochemical profile of the H. equigenitalis strains was unique and differed from the other bacterial species studied under the same experimental conditions (H. influenzae and H. parainfluenzae, B. abortus and B. melitensis, P. multocida, A. calcoaceticus). The required X an...
Ultrastructure of Haemophilus equigenitalis, causative agent of contagious equine metritis. Haemophilus equigenitalis, a proposed new species of Haemophilus and the causative agent of contagious equine metritis, a venereal disease of the horse, had ultrastructural characteristics of gram-negative bacteria. The organism additionally had a small, threadlike capsule that was removed by heating in phosphate-buffered saline solution. Heating also detached the outer membrane from the cytoplasmic membrane. The capsule could only be demonstrated when bacterial were stained with ruthenium red during the preparation of ultrathin sections. The gross morphology of newly isolated organisms (rodli...
Contagious equine metritis: effect of intrauterine inoculation of contagious equine metritis agent in pony mares. Actively growing culture of contagious equine metritis (CEM) bacteria or infective exudate (or both) were inoculated intrauterine in pony mares. A direct relationship was observed between (i) appearance and duration of cervicitis and vaginitis and (ii) vaginal exudate. Clinical signs appeared 1 to 3 days after mares were inoculated and lasted 7 to 23 days. In the acute phase of infection, all uterine and cervical samples yielded CEM bacteria. In the asymptomatic stage of infection, CEM bacteria were not isolated from uterine and cervical samples; however, in 33%, 28%, and 20% of the pony mares...
The irritancy of chlorhexidine gluconate in the genital tract of the mare. Uterine irrigation was carried out in eight Welsh pony mares using 50 ml of chlorhexidine gluconate solution diluted to give active ingredient concentrations of 0.25 per cent to 2 per cent. Treatment was repeated up to twice in mares showing no adverse effects and irritancy of treatment judged on clinical symptoms and uterine biopsy. Results indicated the inadvisability of using a higher concentration than 0.25 per cent. Three daily applications of a diluted surgical scub solution containing 2 per cent chlorhexidine gluconate to the penis of an arab stallion failed to produce symptoms or irrit...
Survival of contagious equine metritis bacteria in transport media. Survival of bacteria that cause contagious equine metritis (CEM) was evaluated in Amies modified transport (AMT) medium, in AMT medium with charcoal, and in Stuart transport medium at 37, 22, 4, and -70 C. The CEM bacteria suspended in transport media survived at 22, 4, and -70 C for longer periods in AMT medium with charcoal than they did in AMT and Stuart transport media. In 1 day, the number of bacteria in exudate stored in the absence of any transport medium decreased 15-fold at 22 C and twofold at 4 C. The CEM bacteria were isolated from exudate on cotton-tipped swabs from all three trans...
Serological response of patients with non-gonococcal urethritis to causative organism of contagious equine metritis 1977. The presence of allugtinins to the causative organism of contagious equine metritis (C.E.M.) in human serum has been confirmed. Agglutinins were found in the serum of 84 (37.6%) of 223 patients with non-gonococcal urethritis (N.G.U.), and in 12.5% of these patients there was a four-fold or greater rise in titre during the course of their illness. There was no evidence that these agglutinins were the result of infection by chlamydiae or ureaplasmas. Certain patients with these agglutinins seemed to respond better to therapy with antibiotics to which the C.E.M. bacterium is susceptible in vitro ...
A passive haemagglutination test for the detection of antibodies to the contagious equine metritis organism. A passive haemagglutination test (PHT) which has been developed for the detection of antibodies to the contagious equine metritis organism (CEMO) in serum is described. Samples from each of 30 mares with metritis were positive with titres in the range 256 to 4096. Samples from each of 239 clinically normal mares and 30 colts and fillies believed not to have been exposed to CEMO were negative with titres of less than 256, the majority of samples (97 per cent) showing a titre of 32 or less.
Contagious equine metritis: a review. Contagious Equine Metritis (CEM) is a highly contagious venereal disease of horses caused by a fastidious, Gram-negative coccobacillus which grows best on chocolate agar under microaerophilic conditions (5-10% CO2). Clinically, the disease is characterized by a copious watery-to-mucopurulent, vaginal discharge two to ten days after breeding by an infected stallion (11, 13). Shortened estrous cycle lengths are common and may be the only indication of endometritis in some instances (7). Inapparent carriers of the disease in both the mare and stallion make control of the disease more difficult. O...
Contagious equine metritis: a review. Contagious Equine Metritis (CEM) is a highly contagious venereal disease of horses caused by a fastidious, Gram-negative coccobacillus which grows best on chocolate agar under microaerophilic conditions (5-10% CO2). Clinically, the disease is characterized by a copious watery-to-mucopurulent, vaginal discharge two to ten days after breeding by an infected stallion (11, 13). Shortened estrous cycle lengths are common and may be the only indication of endometritis in some instances (7). Inapparent carriers of the disease in both the mare and stallion make control of the disease more difficult. O...
Contagious equine metritis–outbreak of the disease in Kentucky and laboratory methods for diagnosing the disease. Contagious Equine Metritis (CEM) was initially reported during the 1977 breeding season in England (Crowhurst, 1977) and Ireland (Timoney, Ward & Kelly, 1977. The disease has also been diagnosed in France and Australia (Huges, Bryden & MacDonald, 1978). The first occurrence of CEM in the United States followed the importation or 2 stallions from France late in 1977 which resulted in an outbreak early in the 1978 breeding season (Swerczek, 1978). Mares usually develop clinical signs of CEM 8--10 days after being covered by an infected stallion, when a copious, greyish discharge is seen. Other m...
Contagious equine metritis in Australia. Contagious equine metritis (CEM) was first diagnosed in Australia in August 1977 and it has since been found on 6 farms in 3 states, having been isolated from about 24 mares and 2 stallions. Details are given of the epidemiology and control procedures used to combat CEM on one farm. Difficulty was experience in successfully treating one infected stallion; this was thought to be associated with inadequate cleaning and treating of the diverticulum of the urethral fossa. Introduction of the disease has had far-reaching consequences and may well result in the adoption of routine bacteriological te...