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VIRUSES
RETROVIRIDAE



Antigenicity

  • Serologically related to Visna-Maedi with antigenic and genetic envelope differences

Hosts

  • Goats

Pathogenesis

  • T cells induce immune complex disease
  • Causes encephalitis of kids or insidious polyarthritis of adults
  • Also causes pneumonia

Epidemiology

  • Transfer via milk and colostrum, particularly batch-mixing
  • Present in 10% of UK herds
  • Clinical disease is rare

Diagnosis

  • Visna-Maedi serology (ELISA) test can be used to remove positive stock

Control

  • Separate kids from virus positive mothers at birth
  • Treat mother's colostrum (56 deg for 1 hour)
  • Rear on artificial milk