Concordance of competitive enzyme linked immunosorbent assay and nested-polymerase chain reaction in the detection of caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus

The study detected the presence of caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus (CAEV) in blood samples from 262 goats and compared the results using competitive enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA) and nested-polymerase chain reaction (nested-PCR) assay. Moreover, it determined the agreement using kappa (κ) statistic, analyze the genetic sequence of CAEV and describe the histopathologic features using carpal joint, brain, lung and mammary gland samples of CAEV positive animals. CAEV antibodies were detected in 15/262 (5.73%) of goat serum samples using cELISA, based on the use of monoclonal antibody binding to CAEV gp135 or SU glycoprotein. In nested-PCR assay targeting the CAE proviral gag region, 9/262 (3.44%) goats were positive which increased the number of positive animals detected to 19 (7.25%). Kappa statistic showed fair agreement between cELISA and nested PCR (κ = 0.39). DNA sequence of PCR product showed 91-98% homology among the reported CAEV genome in the GenBank. Histopathological findings were characterized by varying degrees of mononuclear cell infiltrations that conformed to the typical features of lentivirus infection.