Colorado has joined 27 other states in tracing and testing horses for a highly contagious venereal disease after a mare was identified as having contact with an infected stallion.
A hold order has been placed on the premises where the quarterhorse mare is kept in northeast Colorado.
The disease, contagious equine metritis, or CEM, can result in temporary infertility. The disease is transmitted in live breeding or artificial insemination. It can be treated with antibiotics.
If tests show the mare is not infected with CEM, the hold will be lifted. If the horse is infected, a quarantine will be imposed for at least 21 days.
“It is important to remember that this disease does not affect humans, and the Colorado Department of Agriculture is working quickly to determine whether the mare is infected,” state veterinarian Dr. Keith Roehr said today.
Test results may not be available for up to a month. The mare is due to foal in February.
The CEM outbreak was first confirmed in a quarterhorse stallion on Dec. 15 in Kentucky. The U.S. Department of Agriculture now confirms a total of 95 horses — 12 stallions and 83 mares — in 28 states, including Virginia, Texas, Oklahoma, Indiana and North Dakota.
In addition, at least 250 other horses are being traced, with owners of those horses located in at least 27 states.
Ann Schrader: 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com.
