The National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa, reported the positive test result Monday afternoon, Jan. 12. The stallion, a 13-year-old Friesian, has been quarantined since Jan. 5, when state animal health authorities learned he had been at a Wisconsin artificial insemination center at the same time as a stallion that later travelled to the index farm in Kentucky. State and federal animal health personnel will examine the stallion’s breeding records and movement history to trace what mares may have been exposed via natural breeding or artificial insemination, and what stallions may have been exposed via shared artificial insemination equipment. Any exposed animals, in Wisconsin or other states, will be quarantined for testing. CEM is a contagious bacterial infection that passes between mares and stallions. It can also be transmitted on contaminated insemination equipment. Stallions do not display any clinical signs, but the infection causes inflammation in the mare’s uterine lining. This might prevent pregnancy or cause the mare to abort if she becomes pregnant. The disease is treatable with disinfectants and antibiotics. CEM is considered a foreign animal disease in the United States. It was first discovered in Europe in 1977, and has appeared in the United States only twice outside quarantine stations where stallions are required to be tested and treated before being released into the country. In 1979, there was an outbreak. In 2006, three Lipizzaner stallions imported into Wisconsin from Eastern Europe tested positive after their arrival, but before they had been used for breeding. If you would like further information regarding CEM please click here. If you have any questions please call the office 859.455.7430.
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