Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
Number Confirmed: 1;
Number Suspected: Unknown;
Number Exposed: Unknown;
Facility Type: Stable;
Comments: On May 23, 2024, the National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa, reported confirmation by bacterial culture a positive case of Taylorella equigenitalis, the causative agent of contagious equine metritis (CEM), in an 11-year-old domestic pony mare in central Florida. The mare had been bred by live cover on May 10th to a 3-year-old pony stallion. After breeding, the mare had retained free fluid in her uterus and was treated by uterine lavage on May 13th. The uterine fluid was collected and sent for routine bacterial culture, which ultimately yielded the confirmed positive results for T. equigenitalis. The mare and the stallion are both being held under state quarantine in Florida and the stallion has been sampled for testing at NVSL with results pending. Traceback and epidemiological investigation is ongoing and additional updates will be posted under the “Confirmed CEM Cases in the United States” tab: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/equine/contagious-equine-metritis as they become available. Additional resource USDA CEM Factsheet: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/sites/default/files/fsc-cem.pdf;