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Abstract
Extract
Many reports concerned with the microflora of the genital tract in thoroughbred mares stress the potential pathogenic significance of the haemolytic streptococci. Many years ago, Dimock Citation(1929, Citation1939) and Dimock and Edwards Citation(1928) associated the haemolytic streptococci with persistent endometritis, sterility and deaths in foals up to 2 to 4 weeks after birth. In Holland, Ressang Citation(1954) isolated haemolytic streptococci of Lancefield's Group C from 34 of 153 (22%) mares offered for examination because of poor breeding performance. Ressang noted that mares with streptococcal endometritis were not likely to show satisfactory fertility even after the infection had apparently been eliminated. Haemolytic streptococci have also been associated with infertility in mares in Turkey (Pusat, Citation1955), in the United Kingdom (Moran and Cronin, Citation1957) and in Ireland (Farrelly and Mullaney, Citation1964). In Australia, Bain Citation(1966) noted that 12% of infected mares at stud in the Hunter district of New South Wales harboured beta-haemolytic strepotcocci in the genital tract. This organism was considered the most serious pathogen encountered as only 40% of these mares infected with haemolytic streptococci produced a live foal in the first year following infection: 35% had still not completed a successful pregnancy within the subsequent 3-year period.