Isolation of caprine arthritis encephalitis virus from goats in Mexico

A lentivirus was isolated from 2 goats in Mexico that were seropositive to caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV) by the agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) test. The lentivirus was identified as CAEV by the observation of g iant multinucleated cells (syncytia) in goat synovial membrane (GSM) monola yers co-cultivated with blood mononuclear (BMN) cells from the seropositive goats, and by amplifying a DNA segment of the CAEV gag gene using the poly merase chain reaction (PCR) technique, Subsequently, cell supernatants from the GSM cells co-cultivated with BMN cells were used to infect 2 CAEV-sero negative goats. These goats seroconverted to CAEV as determined by the ACID test, and CAEV was re-isolated from these goats. One of the goats develope d polyarthritis 8 mo after inoculation, Previous serological surveys indica te that infection with CAEV is prevalent among goats in Mexico, To our know ledge this is the first report of CAEV isolation in Mexico. Because of glob alization of markets and increased trading among nations, the rapid identif ication and reporting of diseases such as CAEV are important to prevent the dissemination of these diseases.