PREVALENCE OF ANTIBODIES AGAINST CAPRINE ARTHRITIS-ENCEPHALITIS VIRUSIN GOAT HERDS IN NORWAY

Sera from 1326 goats in 51 herds distributed in 11 counties in Norway were examined for antibodies against caprine arthritis-encephalitis vi rus (CAEV) by an ELISA based on recombinant viral core proteins. Altog ether 484 animals (weighted prevalence: 42%) in 44 (86%) herds tested positive, indicating that the CAEV-infected herds are evenly spread th roughout the country. The prevalence of positive animals within herds ranged from 0 to 100%, the prevalence rate of seropositive goats incre asing with age and northerly location of herd in the country. Seven he rds in which no test-positive animal was detected in the first screeni ng, were retested about a year later. On testing all 551 goats above s ix months of age, at least two animals were found positive in six of t he herds. However, when nine of these 27 ELISA-positive sera were exam ined by Western blotting, only one was found to be positive, indicatin g that the ELISA employed may give false positive results. (C) 1998 Pu blished by Elsevier Science B.V.