Verminous mastitis in a mare caused by a free-living nematode

Verminous mastitis was the reason for euthanasia of a 22-yr-old Paso Fino mare from Miami, Florida. The etiologic agent was a species of Cephalobus (Rhabditida: Cephalobidae), a genus of soil-inhabiting nematodes that were obviously multiplying in the mammary gland. Only females and larvae were detected in the tissues by histologic section or by teasing the tissue to liberate the worms. At least 12,900 individuals were present per gram of tissue. This is the first case of Cephalobus infecting horses and it indicates that not all histiotropic infections of horses by rhabditoid nematodes are by Halicephalobus deletrix ( = Micronema deletrix).