The purpose of this work was to analyse serum and blood cells from caprine origin to detect antibody and proviral DNA of caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV), respectively. Agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with degenerated primers were used. Samples of different geographical regions were analysed: 39 from Mato Grosso do Sul (MS), 19 from São Paulo (SP), 22 from Ceará (CE) including 10 from Canada (imported animals), providing a total of 80 samples. The results obtained by AGID and PCR were discordants, as 25 samples were detected as seropositive, while 16 infected animals were detected by PCR. On the other hand, PCR allowed the identification of infected animals that did not have detectable antibodies by AGID: eight samples from MS and one from CE. Different aspects related to these discordant results are discussed.
Caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus; CAEV; PCR; degenerated primers; AGID
