43 Florida Horses Confirmed Positive for CEM

Forty-three cases of CEM have been confirmed in Orange County since May.
Share
Favorite
Please login to bookmarkClose
Please login

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT
Forty-three horses in Orange County, Florida, have tested positive for CEM since May, and 59 additional horses are exposed.
Forty-three horses in Orange County, Florida, have tested positive for CEM since May, and 59 additional horses are exposed. | Adobe Stock

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the United States Department of Agriculture has confirmed 43 cases of contagious equine metritis (CEM) in Orange County, Florida, since May. The cases are connected to a 4-year-old pony stallion that live-covered mares and was positive for T. equigenitalis on bacterial culture. In addition to the 43 confirmed cases, 59 additional horses are exposed.

EDCC Health Watch is an Equine Network marketing program that utilizes information from the Equine Disease Communication Center (EDCC) to create and disseminate verified equine disease reports. The EDCC is an independent nonprofit organization that is supported by industry donations in order to provide open access to infectious disease information.

About Contagious Equine Metritis

Contagious equine metritis (CEM) is a venereal disease of horses caused by the bacteria Taylorella equigenitalis. It can impact fertility in both mares and stallions. The United States is considered to be CEM-free. Therefore, CEM is a foreign animal disease that is reportable at both the federal and state level. The U.S. horse industry could suffer significant economic losses if the disease became established here.

CEM is spread during breeding or through contact with contaminated objects. It is highly contagious among horses and can be difficult to detect and control. Signs of illness in infected mares may not be obvious, and stallions carry the bacteria without showing any signs at all. In some cases, mares may also become carriers. Foals born to infected/carrier mares can also become long-term carriers of the bacteria.

Share

Written by:

Sign Up for EDCC Health Alerts

Don’t miss an important EDCC Health Alert! Get alerts delivered straight to your inbox by signing up for The Horse’s newsletter.

"*" indicates required fields

Name*

Additional Offers

Weekly Newsletters
Monthly Newsletters
Other Newsletters
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

More Alerts

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

Horse owners often vaccinate in the spring but might skip on boosting in the fall. Why do you skip fall boosters? Select all that apply.
56 votes · 56 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign up for EDCC Health Watch text alerts to get notified when an equine disease outbreak is reported in your state or region.

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!