DES MOINES – Iowa is one of more than 30 states testing horses that may have been exposed to contagious equine metritis (CEM) following the discovery of infected quarter horse stallions in Kentucky and Indiana.  No Iowa horses have tested positive for the disease. CEM is a contagious disease transmitted during breeding that can cause temporary infertility in mares.  Infected stallions can carry the bacteria and show no clinical signs of the disease. It does not affect humans and infected horses can be treated with antibiotics. Iowa has received notification of a few mares that were artificially inseminated with semen last year from stallions that have now tested positive for CEM.  All of those horses are being be blood tested and cultured and will be treated. According to USDA, nationwide more than 250 horses in all but 12 states are being traced in connection to this outbreak.  More information on CEM and trace-backs being done is available on USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) website at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_issues/cem/index.shtml. - 30 -