Surveillance of Contagious Equine Metritis: Results of the First 5-Year Period of French Proficiency Tests for Taylorella equigenitalis Detection by Real-Time PCR.

Contagious equine metritis (CEM) detection by PCR is recognized by the European Union according to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 846/2014, and real-time PCR is now recommended by the World Organisation for Animal Health Terrestrial Manual at the same level as the culture method. The present study highlights the creation of an efficient network of approved laboratories in France in 2017 for CEM detection by real-time PCR. The network currently consists of 20 laboratories. A first proficiency test (PT) was organized by the national reference laboratory for CEM in 2017 to evaluate the performance of the early network, followed by annual proficiency tests organized for ongoing periodic assessment of network performance. Results of the 5 PTs organized from 2017 to 2021 are presented, during which 5 real-time PCRs and 3 DNA extraction methods were used. Overall, 99.20% of the qualitative data corresponded to expected results and the R-squared of global DNA amplification calculated for each PT varied from 0.728 to 0.899. DNA extraction is also an important step in the analytical process, and results were more favorable with direct lysis compared to column extraction. Focusing on the most commonly used PCR (PCR 1: 86.4% of results) showed lowest cycle threshold values with direct lysis compared to column and magnetic bead extractions, and with magnetic bead extraction compared to column extraction, but neither of these differences were statistically significant.