Caprine arthritis-encephalitis (CAE) virus

Test code: S0151 - Ultrasensitive detection of caprine arthritis-encephalitis (CAE) virus by real time PCR

Caprine arthritis-encephalitis  virus (CAEV) is a lentivirus that can infect goats, causing chronic disease of the joints and on rare occasions encephalitis in young goats. CAEV infects and replicates within white blood cells and therefore any bodily secretions which contain white blood cells are potential sources of virus to other goats in the herd. However, not all goats that are infected with CAEV will develop the disease, and these asymptomatic carriers may spread the disease within the herd. It is thus important to test goats routinely for infection.

Serology testing is routinely used to test goats for past exposure to this virus. However, a positive serology result cannot confirm current status, and the presence of the antibodies may not completely protect a goat from infections. More than 90% of serology positive goats may be free of any clinical signs but remain potentially infectious. On the other hand, a negative serology result does not definitively rule out infection, because goats recently infected with CAEV may have antibody titers too low to be reliably detected by serology assays. PCR detection of the virus is a rapid, specific and sensitively method for detecting the presence of the virus in a sample. PCR testing can also be performed on samples other than serum, such as semen, milk or other bodily secretions (Wagner et al., 2004).

Utilities:

• Confirm the disease causing agent
• Identify CAE virus carriers
• Ensure that goat herds are free of CAE virus
• Early prevention of spread of the virus among animals
• Minimize human exposure to the virus
• Safety monitoring of biological products that derive from goats

References:
Wagner, L.H.A.,  Jansen, A., Bleumink-Pluym, N.M.C., Lenstra, J.A. and Houwers, D.J. (2004) PCR detection of lentiviral GAG segment DNA in the white blood cells of sheep and goats. Vet. Res. Comm. 22: 355-362.

Specimen requirements: 0.5 ml whole blood in EDTA (purple top) or ACD (yellow top) tube, or 0.5 ml milk

For specimen types other than those listed here, please call to confirm specimen acceptability and shipping instructions.

For all specimen types, if there will be a delay in shipping, or during very warm weather, refrigerate specimens until shipped and ship with a cold pack unless more stringent shipping requirements are specified. Frozen specimens should be shipped so as to remain frozen in transit. See shipping instructions for more information.

Turnaround time: 2 business days

Methodology: Qualitative real time PCR

Normal range: Nondetected