SEROLOGICAL SURVEY OF CAPRI NE ARTHRITIS-ENCEPHALITIS [623279]

70
SEROLOGICAL SURVEY OF CAPRI NE ARTHRITIS-ENCEPHALITIS
VIRUS INFECTION IN SI BIU COUNTY, ROMANIA
Adrian-Valentin POTÂRNICHE1, Constantin CERBU1, Diana OLAH1,
Monica SUĂTEAN1, Catrinel PEREDI1, Silvian GURANDA1, Marina SPÎNU1
1University of Agricultural Scienc es and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca,
3-5 Mănăștur Str., Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Corresponding author email: [anonimizat]
Abstract
Caprine arthritis-encephalitis (CAE) is an economically important viral disease of goats, caused by a single-stranded
RNA lentivirus belonging to the Retrovi ridae family, Orthoretrovirinae subfa mily. CAE virus (CAEV) infection is
widespread among dairy goats in most industrialized count ries. Clinical disease in goats includes encephalitis in kids,
chronic arthritis, inflammatory mastitis and progressive respiratory disease in adults. Transmission of CAEV occurs
generally via colostrum and milk consumption, but horizont al transmission also contributes to disease spread. Most
goats infected remain virus positive for life, generally asymptomatic and can develop CAE months to years later.
The aim of the study was to investigate the seroprevalence for CAEV infection in goat he rds in 6 villages from Sibiu:
Arpașu de Jos, Avrig, Cârțișoara, Laslea, Porumbacul de Jos, Șelimbăr. A number of 15,947 serum samples were
collected over a 3 year period. All sam ples were analyzed using a commercial Ag ar Gel Immunodiffusion (AGID) test.
The results have shown that the overall seroprevalence was high er 9.06% in the last year of the study than in previous
two years 3.54% and 2.29%. The biggest difference was found in Laslea with 17 positive samples (1.63%) in the first
year and 86 positive samples in the 3rd year (14.90%).
The result of the study provides useful info rmation on animal hea lth and herd management factors. Proper prevention
and control measures should be taken in order to prevent infection spreading and economic losses due to CAEV
infection in the coming future.

Key words : CAE, AGID, seroprevalence.

INTRODUCTION

Caprine arthritis-encephalitis (CAE) was first
described in the United States by Cork et al., in 1974, while the causal virus was first isolated in the same country from the synovial fluid of an arthritic goat (Crawford et al., 1980).
Caprine arthritis-encephalitis has emerged as a
significant and costly disease of goats (Smith &
Sherman, 2009).
CAE is produced by a single-stranded RNA lentivirus belonging to the family Retroviridae. The retroviridae consist of non-oncogenic viruses that produce multi-organ disease characterized by long incubation periods and
persistent infection (Balbin & Mingala, 2017).
In general, goats with CAE virus (CAEV) do
not show clinical signs of infection and detection of specific antibodies is the only test that shows the infection. The development of a clinical disease may take several months to
years, probably due to very low seroconversion (Balbin & Mingala, 2017; Kaba et al., 2009). The infection causes slow and persistent infla-
mmatory diseases characterized by synovitis, polyarthritis, mastitis and pneumonia in adult goats and encephalomyelitis in kids (Kaba et al.,
2009; Lofstedt, 2016). Monocyte/macrophage
lineage is the main target for the virus. In these cells, virus replication is closely associated with the differentiation and maturation of monocytes to macrophages (K aba et al., 2009).
CAEV is transmitted by direct contract via
colostrum (lactogenic transmission) and by horizontal transmission through respiratory
secretions (OIE, 2017). Live animal trade re-presents a major risk in the diffusion of CAEV from one herd to another (APHIS, 2007). Infection with CAEV in goats from Romania has been reported (Gurău et al., 2015; Enache et al., 2017). The ideal method of confirming
the diagnosis of caprine arthritis encephalitis is
the combination of clinical and serological methods. Nevertheless serology is the most cost-efective method for diagnosing (Spînu & Șandru, 2017). Agar gel immunodiffusion test (AGID) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) are considered sufficiently reliable to be used in control programs. The control of CAE infection could be made by serological methods (ELISA or AGID). Both
tests are considered sufficiently reliable for use in control programs. AGID test is reported to
be more specific but less sensitive than the
ELISA (Lofstedt, 2016). PCR can become a
detection test in rigorous eradication programs
to determine the infectious status of animals
that cannot be diagnosed with serological certainty (Spînu & Șandru, 2017).
There are no vaccines available for CAE (Reina
et al., 2013). Control programs remain the only approach to avoid infection and most control
programs focus on elimination of infected
animals and their p rogeny (Minguijon et al.,
2015; Perez et al., 2010). The aim of the study was to investigate by
AGID the serological prevalence of CAEV infection in goat herds from a semi-intensive goat raising area located in Sibiu county.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A number of 15,947 serum samples were collected over a 3 year period and analyzed
using a commercial Agar Gel Immunodiffusion
(AGID) test. The samples were taken randomly from goat herds from 6 villages from Sibiu county: Arpașu de Jos, Avrig, Cârțișoara, Laslea, Porumbacul de Jo s, Șelimbăr (Fig. 1).
All samples were analyzed using a commercial
Agar Gel Immunodiffusion (AGID) test
(Porquer Montpellier, France) according to the manufacturer’s instruction s.
The analysis of collected data was realized using commercially available spreadsheet software (Excel 2007).

Figure 1: Assay-sampling from all 6 villages from Sibiu RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
The distribution of the results obtained in all 6 villages is presented in table 1. A total of 129/5621 (2.29%) serum samples
were positive for CAEV in the AGID in the 1
st
year. Seropositive animals were present in 5/6
villages, indicating widespread infection. In the 2
nd year the number of positive samples
increased 275/7766 (3.54%).
The results have shown that the overall
seroprevalence was 9.06% higher in the last
year of the study than in previous two years in
which values of 3.54% and 2.29% were
recorded. The highest difference was found in
Laslea with 17 positive samples (1.63%) in the
first year and 86 positive samples in the 3rd year (14.90%). Two main CAE developm ental patterns were
observed in the studied flocks. From year one to year three, in 50% of the locations, there was
a steady, from 2 to 10 fold increase, of the positive animals (from 3.29 to 6.46% and 0.81
to 10.67% respectively), while in the other
50%, a sudden of 2 to 5 fold increase (3.32 to
8.09% and 0.0 to 5.82%, respectively), was
noticed (Fig. 2).
These data supported the impact of
differentiated raising systems’ and biosecurity
measures’ implementation in various flocks.
The movement of animals among dairy farms might increase the risk to introduce infected goats and cause higher seroprevalence in those farms.
At national level, the seroprevalence (38.46%)
reported by Gurău et al. (2015) is much higher, due t o the restricted area (Brăila County) of the
analyses carried out by they authors.

Figure 2: Comparison of the CAEV seropositive goats in
all 6 villages from Sibiu Scientific Works. Series C. Veterinary Medicine. V ol. LXIV (2), 2018
ISSN 2065-1295; ISSN 2343-9394 (CD-ROM); ISSN 2067-3663 (Online); ISSN-L 2065-1295

71
SEROLOGICAL SURVEY OF CAPRI NE ARTHRITIS-ENCEPHALITIS
VIRUS INFECTION IN SI BIU COUNTY, ROMANIA
Adrian-Valentin POTÂRNICHE1, Constantin CERBU1, Diana OLAH1,
Monica SUĂTEAN1, Catrinel PEREDI1, Silvian GURANDA1, Marina SPÎNU1
1University of Agricultural Scienc es and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca,
3-5 Mănăștur Str., Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Corresponding author email: adrian.potarniche@usamvcluj.ro
Abstract
Caprine arthritis-encephalitis (CAE) is an economically important viral disease of goats, caused by a single-stranded
RNA lentivirus belonging to the Retrovi ridae family, Orthoretrovirinae subfa mily. CAE virus (CAEV) infection is
widespread among dairy goats in most industrialized count ries. Clinical disease in goats includes encephalitis in kids,
chronic arthritis, inflammatory mastitis and progressive respiratory disease in adults. Transmission of CAEV occurs
generally via colostrum and milk consumption, but horizont al transmission also contributes to disease spread. Most
goats infected remain virus positive for life, generally asymptomatic and can develop CAE months to years later.
The aim of the study was to investigate the seroprevalence for CAEV infection in goat he rds in 6 villages from Sibiu:
Arpașu de Jos, Avrig, Cârțișoara, Laslea, Porumbacul de Jos, Șelimbăr. A number of 15,947 serum samples were
collected over a 3 year period. All sam ples were analyzed using a commercial Ag ar Gel Immunodiffusion (AGID) test.
The results have shown that the overall seroprevalence was high er 9.06% in the last year of the study than in previous
two years 3.54% and 2.29%. The biggest difference was found in Laslea with 17 positive samples (1.63%) in the first
year and 86 positive samples in the 3rd year (14.90%).
The result of the study provides useful info rmation on animal hea lth and herd management factors. Proper prevention
and control measures should be taken in order to prevent infection spreading and economic losses due to CAEV
infection in the coming future.

Key words : CAE, AGID, seroprevalence.

INTRODUCTION

Caprine arthritis-encephalitis (CAE) was first
described in the United States by Cork et al., in 1974, while the causal virus was first isolated in the same country from the synovial fluid of an arthritic goat (Crawford et al., 1980).
Caprine arthritis-encephalitis has emerged as a
significant and costly disease of goats (Smith &
Sherman, 2009).
CAE is produced by a single-stranded RNA lentivirus belonging to the family Retroviridae. The retroviridae consist of non-oncogenic viruses that produce multi-organ disease characterized by long incubation periods and
persistent infection (Balbin & Mingala, 2017).
In general, goats with CAE virus (CAEV) do
not show clinical signs of infection and detection of specific antibodies is the only test that shows the infection. The development of a clinical disease may take several months to
years, probably due to very low seroconversion (Balbin & Mingala, 2017; Kaba et al., 2009). The infection causes slow and persistent infla-
mmatory diseases characterized by synovitis, polyarthritis, mastitis and pneumonia in adult goats and encephalomyelitis in kids (Kaba et al.,
2009; Lofstedt, 2016). Monocyte/macrophage
lineage is the main target for the virus. In these cells, virus replication is closely associated with the differentiation and maturation of monocytes to macrophages (K aba et al., 2009).
CAEV is transmitted by direct contract via
colostrum (lactogenic transmission) and by horizontal transmission through respiratory
secretions (OIE, 2017). Live animal trade re-presents a major risk in the diffusion of CAEV from one herd to another (APHIS, 2007). Infection with CAEV in goats from Romania has been reported (Gurău et al., 2015; Enache et al., 2017). The ideal method of confirming
the diagnosis of caprine arthritis encephalitis is
the combination of clinical and serological methods. Nevertheless serology is the most cost-efective method for diagnosing (Spînu & Șandru, 2017). Agar gel immunodiffusion test (AGID) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) are considered sufficiently reliable to be used in control programs. The control of CAE infection could be made by serological methods (ELISA or AGID). Both
tests are considered sufficiently reliable for use in control programs. AGID test is reported to
be more specific but less sensitive than the
ELISA (Lofstedt, 2016). PCR can become a
detection test in rigorous eradication programs
to determine the infectious status of animals
that cannot be diagnosed with serological certainty (Spînu & Șandru, 2017).
There are no vaccines available for CAE (Reina
et al., 2013). Control programs remain the only approach to avoid infection and most control
programs focus on elimination of infected
animals and their p rogeny (Minguijon et al.,
2015; Perez et al., 2010). The aim of the study was to investigate by
AGID the serological prevalence of CAEV infection in goat herds from a semi-intensive goat raising area located in Sibiu county.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A number of 15,947 serum samples were collected over a 3 year period and analyzed
using a commercial Agar Gel Immunodiffusion
(AGID) test. The samples were taken randomly from goat herds from 6 villages from Sibiu county: Arpașu de Jos, Avrig, Cârțișoara, Laslea, Porumbacul de Jo s, Șelimbăr (Fig. 1).
All samples were analyzed using a commercial
Agar Gel Immunodiffusion (AGID) test
(Porquer Montpellier, France) according to the manufacturer’s instruction s.
The analysis of collected data was realized using commercially available spreadsheet software (Excel 2007).

Figure 1: Assay-sampling from all 6 villages from Sibiu RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
The distribution of the results obtained in all 6 villages is presented in table 1. A total of 129/5621 (2.29%) serum samples
were positive for CAEV in the AGID in the 1
st
year. Seropositive animals were present in 5/6
villages, indicating widespread infection. In the 2
nd year the number of positive samples
increased 275/7766 (3.54%).
The results have shown that the overall
seroprevalence was 9.06% higher in the last
year of the study than in previous two years in
which values of 3.54% and 2.29% were
recorded. The highest difference was found in
Laslea with 17 positive samples (1.63%) in the
first year and 86 positive samples in the 3rd year (14.90%). Two main CAE developm ental patterns were
observed in the studied flocks. From year one to year three, in 50% of the locations, there was
a steady, from 2 to 10 fold increase, of the positive animals (from 3.29 to 6.46% and 0.81
to 10.67% respectively), while in the other
50%, a sudden of 2 to 5 fold increase (3.32 to
8.09% and 0.0 to 5.82%, respectively), was
noticed (Fig. 2).
These data supported the impact of
differentiated raising systems’ and biosecurity
measures’ implementation in various flocks.
The movement of animals among dairy farms might increase the risk to introduce infected goats and cause higher seroprevalence in those farms.
At national level, the seroprevalence (38.46%)
reported by Gurău et al. (2015) is much higher, due t o the restricted area (Brăila County) of the
analyses carried out by they authors.

Figure 2: Comparison of the CAEV seropositive goats in
all 6 villages from Sibiu

72Table 1: Distribution of CAEV seropositive samples according to the herd origin

Villages Results
1st year 2nd year 3rd year
Samples + % Samples + % Samples + %
Arpașu de Jos 341 0 0 1277 12 0.94 361 21 5.82
Avrig 1701 56 3.29 1622 86 5.30 526 34 6.46
Cârțișoara 254 2 0.79 337 3 0.89 116 4 3.45
Laslea 1042 17 1.63 2111 77 3.65 577 86 14.90
Porumbacul de Jos 866 7 0.81 994 43 4.33 300 32 10.67
Șelimbăr 1417 47 3.32 1425 54 3.79 680 55 8.09
TOTAL 5621 129 2.29 7766 275 3.54 2560 232 9.06

CONCLUSIONS

The obtained data provided useful information
on the influence of herd health management factors in controlling th e spreading of CAE in
the selected flocks. Proper prevention and
control measures must be designed to prevent
further economic losses due to CAEV infection
in the area.

REFERENCES

APHIS, 2007, Caprine arthriti s encephalitis virus,
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, US
Department of Agriculture, Maryland, USA.
Balbin M.M., Mingala C.N., 2017, Emerging and re-
emerging Infectious Diseases of Livestock, Springer,
191-213.
Cork L.C., Hadlow W.J., Crawford T.B., Gorham J.R.,
Piper R.C., 1974, Infectious leukoencephalomyelitis of young goats, J Infect Dis, 129(2) : 134-141.
Crawford T.B., Adams D.S., Cheevers W.P., Cork L.C.,
1980, Chronic arthritis in goats caused by a
retrovirus, Science, 207 : 997-999.
Enache D.A., Baraitareanu S., Dan M., Gurau M.R.,
Otelea F., Dobre A., Danes D., 2017, Preliminary
results of mvv and caev seroprevalence in Romanian sheep and goats, Scientific Works. Series C.
Veterinary Medicine, LXIII(1) : 95-100. Gurău M.R., Baraitareanu S., Danes D., 2015, Serological
survey of caprine arth ritis-encephalitis virus infection in
a southeastern Romanian farm, Scientific Works. Series
C. Veterinary Medicine, LXI(2) : 169 – 171.
Kaba J., Rola M., Materniak M., Kuzmak J., Nowicki M.,
2009, Isolation and characterization of caprine arthritis
encephalitis virus in goats from Poland, Polish Journal of Veterinary Sciences, 12(2) : 183- 188.
Lofstedt J., 2016, Caprine arthr itis and ence phalitis, Merck
Veterinary Manual, In Aiello S.E. (Ed.), Kenilwork, NJ: Merck, 747-749.
Minguijon E., Reina R., Perez M., Polledo L., Villoria M.,
Ramirez H., Leginagoikoa I., Ba diola J.J., Garcia-Marin
J.F., de Adres D., Lujan L., Amorena B., Juste R.A.,
2015, Small ruminant lentivirus infections and diseases, Veterinary Microbiology, 181 : 75-89.
Office International des Epizootes, 2017, Manual of
Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines for Terrestrial Animals,
7th Ed., Paris, France, ch. 2.7.2/3.
Perez M., Biescas E., de Andres X., Leginagoikoa I.,
Salazar E., Merriatua E., Re ina R., Bolea R., de Andres
D., Juste R. A., Cancer J ., Gracia J., Amorena B.,
Badiola J.J., Lujan L., 2010, Visna/maedi virus serology
in sheep: survey, risk factors and implementation of a
successful control programme in Aragon (Spain), Vet.
J., 186: 221-225.
Smith M.C., Sherman D.M., 2009, Goat meicine 2nd ed.,
Wiley and Blackwell.
Spînu M., Șandru D.C., 2017, Retroviral diseases of
animals, Risoprint, Cluj -Napoca, 165-173.

PARVOVIROSIS: A CASE REPORT AND A REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Monica SUĂTEAN, Catrinel Alexandra PEREDI, Diana Ioana OLAH,
Mihaela NICULAE, Adrian Valentin POTÂRNICHE, Marina SPÎNU, G.F. BRUDAȘCĂ

University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca,
3-5 Mănăștur Str., Cluj -Napoca, Romania

Corresponding author email: monica.suatean@usamvcluj.ro

Abstract

This paper aims to present a case report of three young Labrador pu ppies six months old, pu ppies living in three
different homes, but belonging to the same li tter in Cluj-Napoca. In additi on to this this paper aims to review the
literature regarding parvovirosis. Parvovirosis is an extremely co ntagious and fatal disease that occurs especially in
young dogs, affecting the gastrointestinal tract and in more extreme cases it also affects the heart of the patients.
Parvovirosis is produced by a virus of the Parvoviridae family, the Parvovirus genus, more exactly CPV-2. Preventable
through vaccination, the newest cases have shown that even the best vaccines are ineffective, resulting in the apparition
of the horrible disease. The diagnosis is quite simple to put, the clinical signs being extremely relevan t. Additional tests
may be used, helping with the as sessment regarding the evolution of the disease . The prognosis of this disease depends
of the virulence of the virus strain as well as the response of the organism to the treatment. However, it is also
important that the treatment is started as soon as possible, because without it, the prognosis is fatal. These three young
Labrador puppies are the living ex ample that the vaccines used in them for the prevention of this fatal disease were not
efficient. The disease fi rst appeared in cats 1978, but since then the disease has appeared to dogs as well. Lately in Cluj
there has been an explosion of cases, the virus attacked wi thout considering the v accine status of patients. This paper
will present the outcome of the treatment in these particular cases, m ore exactly two males and one female, belonging
to the same litter, all three being treate d inside the Infectious Diseases Clinic of the Veterinary Medicine Faculty in
Cluj Napoca.

Key words : parvovirosis; dogs; infectious.

INTRODUCTION

Parvovirosis is a infectious, highly contagious disease, which was first described in cats in 1978, but it had rapidly evolved and developed in dogs as well (Carmichael, 2005). This is one
of the most important viruses that infect both
the wild and domestic canids, being found worldwide. Parvovirus type 2-c (CPV-2) is a small non-enveloped vir us, belongs to the
Parvoviridae family and contains a single
stranded DNA of about 5.2 kb in length ( Miranda et al., 2015). The virus has a , non-enveloped icosahedral capsids (Xie & Chapman, 1996). The capsid contains 60 protein subunits of VP1 and VP2 (54 –55
copies). These all share the same structure and
are produced by the alternative splicing of viral
mRNAs (Miranda et al.,2016).
The central core of the capsid is highly
conserved that is composed of an eight-stranded, antiparallel β -barrel with flexible
loops between the β -strands. These strands form the surface of the capsid which has a 22 Å spike on the threefold axes, a 15 Å deep canyon that surrounds the cylindrical structures at the fivefold axes, and as well as a 15 Å deep
depression “dimple” at the twofold axes. Moreover the threefold axes are the most antigenic region of the capsid. They serve as a target for neutralizing antibodies (Agbandje et al., 1993). Studies have shown that the disease occurs in 6–12 week-old pups; while younger dogs are generally protected from infection by maternally-derived immunity (Desario C., et al., 2005). Other studies have shown that puppies between 6 weeks and 6 months are more vulnerable to the dise ase (Prittie, 2004).
In contrast with the literature findings, the
oldest patient with pa rvovirosis was 12 months
old.
Regarding the breed susceptibility, literature cites that certain bl ack and tan colored dogs
have a higher sensitivi ty to the disease.
Rottweilers, Doberman Pinscher and Pitbull