CONTAGIOUS EQUINE METRITIS - CANADA

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A ProMED-mail post

ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases


Date: 11 Feb 2009
Source: Horsetalk.co.nz [edited]



Horses in 6 Canadian provinces were quarantined over contagious equine
metritis (CEM) on 11 Feb 2009. Canadian authorities have placed horses
under quarantine in 6 provinces as containment efforts against an outbreak
of (CEM) continue.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said it continued to respond to
the increasing detections of _Taylorella equigenitalis_, the bacterium that
causes CEM, in the United States. To date, 11 stallions and one mare have
tested positive to the disease in the USA. The 1st case was identified on a
central Kentucky farm in mid-December 2008.

The CFIA said potentially exposed animals have been identified in Alberta,
Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia. "As a
precaution, the CFIA has quarantined animals on the farms, and these
measures will remain in place until all potentially exposed mares and their
foals have tested negative for CEM," the agency said. It said more farms
may be quarantined as investigations in Canada and the US continue.

Testing was under way, with all results so far proving negative. Some
testing will not be completed until pregnant mares have given birth, the
agency said.

Canada tightened import requirement for live horses from the USA on 19 Jan
2009, and required additional certification for semen and embryo imports
from 29 Jan 2009. CEM is a venereal disease in horses which can affect the
reproductive ability of infected mares. It is treatable with antibiotics.

"The CFIA will continue to work with the United States Department of
Agriculture, provincial counterparts, affected producers and the equine
industry in this response effort," it said. "Any horse owner or
veterinarian who suspects a horse under their care may be infected with CEM
must immediately contact their local CFIA district office."

CEM is a federally reportable disease in Canada and there are international
trade implications if a country loses its CEM-free status.

--
communicated by:
ProMED-Mail rapporteur: Susan Baekeland

[For a more detailed look at the consequences of CEM to the horse industry
and individual animals, readers are encouraged to see ProMED-mail post
20090131.0442. - Mod.TG]

[see also:
Contagious equine metritis - USA (06): update 20090205.0512
Contagious equine metritis - USA (05): (ME) 20090131.0442
Contagious equine metritis - USA (04): (TX) 20090116.0178
Contagious equine metritis - USA (03): (WI) 20090109.0084
Contagious equine metritis - USA (02): (OK) 20090106.0054
Contagious equine metritis - USA: (KY), OIE 20090102.0012
2008
---
Contagious equine metritis - USA: (KY) 20081231.4122
2006
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Contagious equine metritis - USA (WI): OIE 20061019.2998
2005
---
Contagious equine metritis - UK: OIE 20050408.1018
1998
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Contagious equine metritis - USA (Calif., Maryland) 19980926.1921
Contagious equine metritis - USA (Kentucky) 19980222.0344
Contagious equine metritis - USA (California) 19980109.0063]