Published in Scientific Works. Series C. Veterinary Medicine, Vol. LXIV, Issue 2
Written by Adrian-Valentin POTÂRNICHE, Constantin CERBU, Diana OLAH, Monica SUĂTEAN, Catrinel PEREDI, Silvian GURANDA, Marina SPÎNU
Caprine arthritis-encephalitis (CAE) is an economically important viral disease of goats, caused by a single-stranded RNA lentivirus belonging to the Retroviridae family, Orthoretrovirinae subfamily. CAE virus (CAEV) infection is widespread among dairy goats in most industrialized countries. Clinical disease in goats includes encephalitis in kids, chronic arthritis, inflammatory mastitis and progressive respiratory disease in adults. Transmission of CAEV occurs generally via colostrum and milk consumption, but horizontal transmission also contributes to disease spread. Most goats infected remain virus positive for life, generally asymptomatic and can develop CAE months to years later. The aim of the study was to investigate the seroprevalence for CAEV infection in goat herds in 6 villages from Sibiu: Arpașu de Jos, Avrig, Cârțișoara, Laslea, Porumbacul de Jos, Șelimbăr. A number of 15,947 serum samples were collected over a 3 year period. All samples were analyzed using a commercial Agar Gel Immunodiffusion (AGID) test. The results have shown that the overall seroprevalence was higher 9.06% in the last year of the study than in previous two years 3.54% and 2.29%. The biggest difference was found in Laslea with 17 positive samples (1.63%) in the first year and 86 positive samples in the 3rd year (14.90%). The result of the study provides useful information on animal health and herd management factors. Proper prevention and control measures should be taken in order to prevent infection spreading and economic losses due to CAEV infection in the coming future.
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