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E-mail for correspondenceDozulé Laboratory for Equine Diseases, Bacteriology Unit, ANSES, Dozulé 14430, France; [email protected]
Introduction
Contagious equine metritis (CEM) is a sexually transmitted disease of equids caused by Taylorella equigenitalis, a slow-growing, capnophilic, Gram-negative coccobacillus. After its discovery in 1977, CEM spread rapidly worldwide, causing international concern within the horse-breeding industry.1 2 To date, CEM has been confirmed in at least 30 countries worldwide,3 4 with the current assumption that the episodic ‘source of contagion’ is often mainland Europe.4 Thus, CEM is among the most regulated equine diseases internationally and occurrences must be notified to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).
The only internationally recognised method for diagnosing CEM is the culturing of T equigenitalis from genital swabs on specific chocolate agar media incubated at 37°C in 5–10 per cent (v/v) CO2 in air.5 Due to the T equigenitalis slow growth, a negative result must be returned after at least seven days of incubation.5 However, samples may be highly contaminated by commensal genital flora (bacteria and fungi), which conceal and/or inhibit T equigenitalis, leading to inconclusive or false-negative results. Moreover, the presence of T asinigenitalis, the second species of the Taylorella genus with a questionable pathogenic potential,6 7 can also lead to false-positive CEM results.8 The detection of T equigenitalis using PCR appears to be an efficient alternative method which is now recognised by the EU (Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) no 846/2014).
In 2008, ANSES’s Maisons-Alfort Laboratory for Animal Health and Dozulé Laboratory for Equine Diseases were appointed (Commission Regulation (EC) no 180/2008) as the European Union Reference Laboratory (EURL) for equine diseases other than African horse sickness (https://eurl-equinediseases.anses.fr/). Its main mission is to promote the harmonisation of diagnostic methods throughout Europe by coordinating a network of National Reference Laboratories (NRLs) for each equine disease named in the mandate. This is the background for this presentation of the results of the first two interlaboratory trials on CEM diagnosis successively organised in 2011 and 2015 by the EURL for equine diseases other than African horse sickness and involving a total of 24 European laboratories. These interlaboratory trials are held every four years, concomitantly with technical training courses, and scientific and technical workshops, to harmonise...