Vets and industry figures are outraged at government proposals to “denotify” 2 contagious equine diseases.

Contagious equine metritis (CEM) and equine viral arteritis (EVA) — both of which are spread through breeding — are currently on the list of notifiable diseases. This means any case must be reported to Defra so co-ordinated action can be taken to stop it spreading.

EVA can cause a high rate of abortion, while CEM causes a uterine infection in mares and can lead to infertility.

But as part of the Government’s “red tape challenge” to “save businesses time and money in needless regulation”, Defra is proposing removing that status.

Roly Owers of World Horse Welfare and the Equine Sector Council for Health and Welfare told H&H this would be a “retrogade step” for managing disease.

“We understand the need to reduce the costs, but these proposals go beyond this,” he said. “Only the Government can enforce movement restrictions [bans on livestock transportation], and without them it is nigh on impossible to irradicate disease.

“This could have huge implications on the equine industry.”

The Government will be “scrapping or amending” more than 3,000 regulations, “saving businesses well over £850million every year”.

A Defra spokesman said it proposes to remove CEM and EVA from the list of UK notifiable diseases “because they are low-impact diseases which are not notifiable in the EU”.

“CEM and EVA are preventable diseases that can be controlled through good hygiene practices as well as vaccines [for EVA] and veterinary treatment [for CEM],” she added.

“Removing the notifiable status will mean government no longer having to be involved in individual disease investigations and control measures, for which effective industry led Codes of Practice are already in place.”

Richard Newton from the Animal Health Trust disagreed with this reasoning.

“The countries we deal with take the diseases very seriously and the inherent value in racing and sport horses is the knowledge that they are free from disease,” he said.

“The equestrian industry is a multi-million pound export industry and we fear Defra is being short-sighted. It needs to realise the potential trade impact if notifable status is taken away.”

Defra told H&H “no final decision will be taken on these proposals without stakeholder consultation”. Mr Owers said the sector had written to Defra.

This article was first published in Horse & Hound magazine (20 March 2014)

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A Buckinghamshire yard is in quarantine after one of its horses was found to have the disease contagious equine metritis (CEM).

Defra has confirmed that the infection was detected on 22 October.

The government department would not release further information except that one horse has the infection and control measures in line with the Horseracing Levy Board codes of practice have been put in place.

CEM is a notifiable disease, meaning an outbreak must be reported to Defra. It can lead to infertility and cause a mare to abort her foal.

The disease brought the US breeding industry to a standstill earlier this year with around 711 horses in 46 US states either proving positive for the infection or put into quarantine after having been in contact with an affected horse.

Earlier this year a top vet said the UK is ripe for a full scale outbreak of CEM.

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MARES imported into Britain from North America should now be classified as “high risk” among breeders under new advice issued by the Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB).

An outbreak of equine venereal disease contagious equine metritis (CEM) has crippled horse breeders in America since early December, when stallions in Kentucky tested positive.

While American scientists think they could have identified the cause of the outbreak — a Friesian stallion imported from Holland to the US in 2004 — testing for CEM is now being undertaken on horses in 39 states in the US.

The investigation involves 291 mares and 43 stallions who are believed to have been exposed to the Taylorella equigenitalis bacterium, the bacteria that causes CEM. Another nine stallions have tested positive for the disease.

In response to the CEM outbreak, the HBLB has updated its codes of practice for breeders.

Stephanie McIntosh from the HBLB said: “The number of mares coming from North America is relatively low, so this is an advisory and preventative cautionary measure, but an important one nonetheless.”

As well as classifying mares imported from both the US and Canada as high risk, the HBLB recommends all mares are fully tested before covering, particularly for any mare who has been in North America since 1 January 2008.

The codes of practice are available at www.hblb.org.uk or by calling 020 7259 8375.

This news story was first published in Horse & Hound (29 January, ’09)

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American scientists think they may have identified the cause of the outbreak of equine venereal disease contagious equine metritis (CEM) in America — a Friesian stallion imported in 2004.

Testing for CEM is now being undertaken on horses in 39 states in America.

The investigation involves 291 mares and 43 stallions that are believed to have been exposed to the Taylorella equigenitalis bacterium and another nine stallions have tested positive for CEM.

One of the stallions with CEM is Friesian stallion Nanning 374, who was imported to the States from Holland.

Nanning has been linked to one of the first batch of stallions to test positive for CEM on 10 December 2008 at the DeGraff Stables/Liberty Farm Reproductive Centre in Woodford, Kentucky.

A spokesman for the office of Kentucky State Veterinarian Robert Stout said: “This evidence strongly supports a conclusion that the source of introduction of the bacteria to Kentucky has been identified.”

But he added that they could not categorically state that the Friesian was the starting point of the infection.

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BREEDERS are being warned that Britain is ripe for an outbreak of contagious equine metritis (CEM) like the one currently sweeping America.

Twenty-eight states and two in Canada are testing horses for CEM. This follows outbreaks at stud farms in Kentucky and Indiana, with around 400 horses affected.

CEM is a venereal disease that can cause temporary infertility and spontaneous abortions in mares.

Defra has confirmed no horses in the UK are thought to have received infected semen from the US.

But president of the British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA), Chris House, warns that because British breeders, other than those breeding thoroughbreds, are not compelled to test their animals for CEM or other diseases, the UK is vulnerable to a similar outbreak.

“CEM is a notifiable disease, but, while semen imported into the UK for artificial insemination [AI] and stallions brought into the country are tested for venereal diseases, there is no compulsion for stallions standing here to be tested,” said Mr House.

“We are working with the British Equine Federation [BEF] to create a code of practice similar to that of the Horseracing Levy Board’s and would like all horses to be tested for disease prior to breeding.”

The Horseracing Levy Board’s code of practice for the control of contagious equine reproductive diseases lays down protocols for reducing the risk of CEM, equine viral arteritis (EVA), equine herpes virus (EHV), equine coital exanthema (ECE), equine infectious anaemia (EIA) and strangles.

A BEF spokesman added: “We are in the early stages of setting up a code of practice with BEVA. Awareness [of equine venereal disease] is not as great as it could be.”

The last outbreak of CEM in the UK was in 1985, although in March last year a colt in transit to Australia passing through the UK tested positive for the infection in quarantine.

Read this new story in full in the current issue of Horse & Hound (15 January, ’09)

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Twenty-eight American states and 2 in Canada are now testing horses for the infection contagious equine metritis (CEM) following outbreaks at stud farms in Kentucky and Indiana.

Four stallions at the DeGraff Stables/Liberty Farm Reproductive Centre in Woodford, Kentucky and another 3 who stood at that stud in 2008 but are now in Indiana, have tested positive for the infection by the Taylorella equigenitalis bacterium that can cause temporary infertility in mares and spontaneous abortions.

Semen from the Quarter horse stallions at the facility was used widely across the US, leading to the exposure to infection of 18 further stallions and 115 mares.

A spokesman for the United States Department of Agriculture said: “At least 250 additional horses are actively being traced, in at least 27 states. Only 12 [out of 50] states have not been involved in the CEM investigation process so far.

“The CEM positive horses are in quarantine and are being treated with disinfectants and antibiotics.”

It is not thought that the infected semen was exported to the UK.

The infection was first spotted on 10 December when semen from 1 of the stallions at DeGraff Stables — Quarter horse Potential Investment — was being routinely tested prior to export.

Another 3 stallions standing at the same premises — Hot Lopin Sensation, Indian Artifacts and Repeated in Red — subsequently tested positive.

Semen from one of the infected stallions was sent to Ontario and Alberta in Canada in spring 2008.

The last known cases of CEM in the US were in 2006 when 3 infected Lipizzaner stallions imported to Wisconsin from eastern Europe tested positive in quarantine.

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The American and Canadian horse breeding industries are on alert after a break-out of contagious equine metritus (CEM) on a Kentucky stud farm.

Four stallions at the DeGraff Stables/Liberty Farm Reproductive Centre in Woodford have tested positive for the infection that can cause temporary infertility in mares and spontaneous abortions.

The last known cases of CEM in the US were in 2006 and the country is considered free of the disease.

The infection was spotted on 10 December when semen from one of the stallions — Quarter horse Potential Investment — was being routinely tested prior to export to Europe.

Another three stallions standing at the same premises — Hot Lopin Sensation, Indian Artifacts and Repeated in Red — have subsequently tested positive.

Semen from one of the infected stallions was sent to Ontario and Alberta in Canada in spring 2008.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is trying to trace those horses that may have been infected and have recommended that Canadian breeders halt imports of breeding stock, semen and embryos from the US.

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A stallion at a stud in Newmarket has tested positive for Contagious Equine Metritis (CEMO).

The horse is currently in quarantine before being exported to Australia. It was swabbed routinely and confirmed to be carrying the disease on 10 May.

CEMO is a notifiable disease in the UK, meaning that when a case is discovered it must be reported to DEFRA and all transmission routes and or the source of infection traced.

A spokesman from DEFRA told H&H: “A veterinary officer (VO) from Animal Health, Bury St Edmunds, has visited the stud, served restrictions and is carrying out a veterinary inquiry.”

CEMO can be difficult to detect because it often shows no clinical signs, but it is a highly contagious equine disease that is spread during mating, teasing and artificial insemination (AI). It can lead to infertility and cause a mare to abort her foal.

CEMO is treatable with antibiotics but that treatment can be lengthy and awkward, since it involved topical application of antibiotics and disinfectant to the genitalia.

There is no evidence that CEMO can be transmitted to humans.

The Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB) produces a code of practice on CEMO for the UK. Visit www.hblb.org.uk

More information about contagious equine metritis >>

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A mare in Oxfordshire has tested positive to the notifiable disease contagious equine metritis (CEM).

According to DEFRA, to which cases of CEM must be reported, the mare was imported from Germany. A movement order has been placed on her stables, and an investigation is under way to establish whether she has been used for breeding in the UK.

CEM causes a uterine infection in mares and can lead to infertility. It is treatable, but can be easily and unknowingly spread by stallions and mares — both of which can carry the disease without showing signs.

“CEM is notifiable because in the 1970s we had a major outbreak that affected the Thoroughbred breeding industry,” said Dr Richard Newton at the Animal Health Trust. “There have been a number of CEM cases in various European countries recently, including Ireland, Sweden and Switzerland. This is of concern as it can affect the trade of horses.”

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• This news report was first published in Horse & Hound (11 May, ’06)