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Prevalence of Microbial Isolates Cultured from Endometrial Swab Samples Collected from United Kingdom Thoroughbred Mares from 2014 to 2020

Mouncey, Rebecca; Arango-Sabogal, Juan C.; Rathbone, Polly; Scott, Camilla J.; de Mestre, Amanda M.

Authors

Rebecca Mouncey

Juan C. Arango-Sabogal

Polly Rathbone

Camilla J. Scott

Amanda M. de Mestre



Abstract

Determining whether endometrial microbial isolates are pathogens, contaminants, or even part of the “normal” microbiome is extremely complex, particularly given the absence of “gold standard” tests for endometritis. Population-level benchmarking and temporal monitoring can provide novel insights and a wider context to improve understanding. This study aimed to (i) estimate the prevalence of endometrial isolates from swabs of Thoroughbred broodmares in Newmarket, UK between 2014 and 2020; and (ii) evaluate the effects of year, mare age, and cytology findings on isolate prevalence. Generalised linear mixed models with a logit link, both null models and models using year of sampling, mare age, or cytology findings as predictors, were fitted to estimate isolate prevalence. Over the 7-year period, data were available from 18,996 endometrial-swab samples from 6050 mares on 290 premises. The overall isolate prevalence was 35.5% (95% confidence interval (CI) 33.0–37.9), and this varied significantly between years. The most prevalent isolates were β-hemolytic Streptococcus (17.9; 95% CI: 17–19) and E. coli (10.3%; 95% CI: 9.0–11.6). Isolate prevalence increased with mare age except for E. coli isolates, and with increasing category of cytology findings except for α-hemolytic Streptococcus isolates. The results provide novel estimates of isolate prevalence and highlight knowledge gaps around potential complexities in the interpretation of findings.

Citation

Mouncey, R., Arango-Sabogal, J. C., Rathbone, P., Scott, C. J., & de Mestre, A. M. (2024). Prevalence of Microbial Isolates Cultured from Endometrial Swab Samples Collected from United Kingdom Thoroughbred Mares from 2014 to 2020. Veterinary Sciences, 11(2), https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci11020082

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Feb 6, 2024
Online Publication Date Feb 9, 2024
Publication Date 2024
Deposit Date Feb 9, 2024
Publicly Available Date Feb 9, 2024
Print ISSN 2306-7381
Electronic ISSN 2306-7381
Publisher MDPI
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 11
Issue 2
DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci11020082
Keywords culture; cytology; endometrial; mare; Thoroughbred; prevalence

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