Caprine arthritis-encephalitis in an indigenous Spanish breed of dairy goat

The presence of caprine arthritis and encephalitis (CAE) in Spain has never been officially acknowledged but it is suspected. Goats have been imported from other European countries with a high prevalence of the disease, mainly France, and they might have introduced the disease into the indigenous goat population. A serological survey of caprine arthritis and encephalitis virus antibodies was carried out in 22 volunteer dairy Murciano-Granadina goat herds; 2513 lactating goats were tested with an agar gel immunodiffusion test, and 12.1 per cent were found to be positive. Five of the herds were free of infection, six had a low prevalence of the disease, five had a medium prevalence and six had a high prevalence. Five seropositive goats with clinical signs of CAE were studied. Macroscopic and microscopic lesions similar to those described for CAE were detected in all five goats and a cytopathic effect typical of CAE virus was observed in primary explant cultures from four of them.