Published in Scientific Works. Series C. Veterinary Medicine, Vol. LXI
Written by Maria Rodica GURĂU, Stelian BARĂITĂREANU, Doina DANEȘ
Caprine arthritis-encephalitis (CAE) is a goat viral disease caused by a lentivirus belonging to the Family Retroviridae, Subfamily Orthoretrovirinae, group VI. CAE virus (CAEV) and Maedi-Visna virus (MVV) are included in the group of small ruminant lentiviruses. The virus induce a persistent infection by incorporation of the CAEV genome into the DNA of host cell. The monocyte-macrophage cells are the main target of this virus. In clinical cases were described arthritis, mastitis, pneumonia, weight loss and encephalitis.A high percentage of CAEV-infected goats will not express the clinical signs of the disease. The majority of the animals remains asymptomatic but the virus is still present and the sheep and goats can transmit the virus through milk, colostrum and respiratory secretions. One of the confirmatory diagnosis methods of CAEV is the serological test, which is highly suitable in the term of cost. The aim of research was the investigation of CAEV-Ab presence by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in goats that showed symptoms associated with CAE to determine the prevalence of CAEV in farm. It were collected 78 serum samples from a goat farm with a total of 120 animals in south-eastern Romania. The symptoms associated with CAE were arthritis in young animals, mastitis and encephalitis in adults. The serum samples were tested with the IDEXX CAEV/MVV Total Ab Test according to the manufacturer's instructions. Thirty samples (38.46%) were ELISA-positive and forty-eight samples (61.54%) were negative. In group of positive goats 93.33% were female 2 years old and 6.67% were male 4 years old. In conclusion, a high prevalence of CAEV-infection in the farm (38.46%), proved by serological investigation (active surveillance by ELISA-Ab exams), have been associated with low clinical cases of CAE, and this supports the claim that the most CAEV infected animals remains asymptomatic.
[Read full article] [Citation]
