Progressive interstitial pneumonia in goats

Seven Anglo-Nubian goats, 5 months to 3 1/2 years old, developed clinical signs of increased respiratory rate, weight loss and exercise intolerance. Post-mortem examination of the goats revealed extensive consolidation of the lungs involving all lobes. Lesions, consisting of peribronchial and perivascular lymphoid cuffing, accumulations of homogeneous eosinophilic material in alveolar spaces, alveolar epithelialisation and thickening of alveolar septa as a result of lymphocytic infiltration, were detected histologically. A syncytial forming virus was consistently isolated from affected animals in explant cultures of lung, synovial membrane and choroid plexus. This agent had similar growth characteristics to the caprine arthritis-encephalitis (CAE) virus and the possible relationship between the respiratory disease and the diseases caused by the CAE virus is discussed.