General Information: This strain was isolated in 2005 from the urethral fossa of a 4-year-old stallion from a stud farm in the Haute-Savoie, France. This species is a microaerophilic Gram-negative coccobacillus, classified in the Alcaligenaceae family. It is the causative agent of the contagious equine metritis (CEM), a sexually-transmitted infection of horses first reported in 1977, and actually detected in many countries and in various breeds of horses. CEM is characterized in infected mares by abundant mucopurulent vaginal discharge and a variable degree of vaginitis, endometritis and cervicitis that usually result in temporary infertility, whereas no clinical signs have been observed in stallions.