CAEV can be detected in seminal fluid

A recent online article reported that for his PhD thesis veterinary surgeon Hugo Ramírez Álvarez showed that goat seminal fluid can be used to detect antibodies to caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV). His study had four purposes:

• to characterize the genetic type of the lentivirus present in a mixed flock of sheep and goats born in Mexico
• to study the virus in different organs/tissues of sheep from Castille & León (Spain) affected by a visna (OPPV) outbreak, to determine what extent the type of virus is responsible for the clinical symptoms described in this outbreak
• to evaluate the effectiveness of the commercial ELISA tests (techniques for detecting the presence of antibodies, especially blood samples) and those designed in this research with short chains of proteins (peptides), and
  
• to diagnose the infection through lentivirus based on seminal fluid antibodies.

The study did not address transmission of the disease through breeding.

CAEV Test with Milk Sample

A study published in the February 2009 issue of Small Ruminant Research compared the ELISA method of diagnosing caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV) using samples of milk whey and the usual blood samples. Samples of each were taken from 66 lactating dairy goats whose infection status for CAEV was already known. All of the goats whose blood samples tested positive for CAEV also had positive tests using the milk samples; the same was true for those with negative tests.

The researchers concluded that using ELISA on milk whey samples is an appropriate method for diagnosing CAEV, and it may be even better because the test is non-invasive (no need to draw blood) and may be less expensive.

Any goat keeper can learn to draw blood from his or her goats (you can find detailed instructions in Goat Health Care), but for those who are milking their goats, wouldn't it be nice to just save a sample and send it in to the lab for annual testing?