46TH
ANNUAL
CONGRESS
OF
THE
SAEVA
SKUKUZA
16-‐20
FEBRUARY
2014
51
f) CEM was absent in Arabian and American Saddlehorses in SA
2. Bacteriology and pathogenesis
a) CEM was not exclusively a venereal disease
b) CEM was apparently readily contagious
c) CEM may have persisted for an undefined interval outside the genital tract
environment
d) CEM was transmissible via AI using semen diluted with antibiotic-containing
extender
3. Disease prevention
a) CEM control was supported by the current post-entry quarantine protocol
4. Diagnostic methods
a) qPCR enabled accurate practical, high-throughput, rapid and economical
identification of T. equigenitalis
b) In-treatment qPCR improved therapeutic protocols for T. equigenitalis elimination
c) Stallion screening was a practical and rapid method to ascertain the prevalence of
T. equigenitalis
d) Repeat sampling increased the sensitivity of T. equigenitalis detection
e) T. equigenitalis had the greatest predilection for the urethral fossa and sinus in
stallions
5. Treatment and management of carrier animals
a) The efficacy and duration of previously-advocated treatment protocols was
undefined
b) A treatment protocol to eliminate T. equigenitalis was objectively evaluated
c) The treatment process may itself enhance dispersal of T. equigenitalis
d) Topical treatment for T. equigenitalis predisposed to genital colonisation by other
bacterial pathogens
Conclusions
CEM outbreak reports are increasingly associated with artificial breeding in nonThoroughbreds possibly in association with shortcomings in biosecurity protocols
associated with semen collection, processing and shipping. The role of contaminated
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