Detection of caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus (caev)‎ in blood and genital tract tissuesof goats in Syria

Abstract EN

The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus (CAEV) infection in Syria, and to investigate the infectious status of blood and genital tract tissues from goats naturally infected with CAEV.

Firstly, to investigate the seroprevalence of CAEV infection in different breeds of goats in Syria, blood samples from 243 goats were analyzed.

Prevalence of specific antibodies to CAEV was determined using commercially available ELISA test.

Then, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to determine whether CAEV proviral-DNA could be detected in the circulating mononuclear cells of the 243 goats.

Secondly, PCR was used to detect the proviral DNA of CAEV in the genital tract tissues (uterus, oviducts and ovaries) of 47 seropositive from 176 goats taken in the slaughter-house.

Out of the 243 goats investigated, 47 (19.34 %) had specific antibodies against CAEV.

Individual goat true seroprevalence to CAEV was 15.7 %.

CAEV proviral-DNA was identified by PCR in the blood cells of 16/243 (6.6 %) goats and in the different of genital tract tissues (19.15 % uterus, 8.5 % ovaries and 8.5 % oviducts) from 47/176 seropositive goats.

The presence of CAEV proviral-DNA in blood cells and the genital tract tissues was significantly higher (P<0.01) in seropositive goats.

This study clearly demonstrates the presence of viral specific antibodies and proviral-DNA in naturally infected Syrian goat blood and in various genital tract tissues.