How to Test for CAE

Caprine arthritis encephalitis is present in up to 81 percent of goat herds in the U.S., according to Gail Bowman, coordinator for the International Boer Goat Association for the Northwestern United States. The virus can go undetected for some time before symptoms appear. Symptoms include weakening back legs, arthritic joints, blindness, head tilt, inflamed udder, pneumonia and others. It is transmitted through the colostrum from the nanny to the kid during nursing, before birth, during birth or through the saliva. There is no curative treatment for goats with CAE. The only treatment is supportive care to manage symptoms.

Things You'll Need

  • 5 ml or 10 ml red top clotting or separator tube
  • Syringe
  • Cold pack
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Instructions

    • 1

      Draw blood from your goat using a 5 ml or a 10 ml red top clotting tube. A serum separator tube may also be used.

    • 2

      Mail the specimen to the lab in overnight mail. There are several labs that accept samples directly from owners, including the diagnostic laboratories associated with veterinary programs at Cornell, University of California Davis, Washington State University at Pullman and the University of Minnesota at St. Paul. The National Animal Disease Center in Ames, Iowa, and Pan American Veterinary Laboratories in Austin, Texas, are two privately run labs that accept samples from goat owners. If you send the sample overnight, you do not need to put a cold pack with it, except during the warm months. Do not send a payment with the sample. The lab will bill you or the veterinarian.

    • 3

      Request that the lab send the results of the test to both you and your veterinarian. It will take about a week. If the test is positive, your goat is possibly contagious to other goats, especially nursing kids. Goats with and without the virus should be separated by a fence at least 10 feet apart.

    • 4

      Test goats in a herd with mostly negative CAE results every six months beginning at 4 months old. Any new goats you bring into the herd should be tested twice before being put in with the rest of the herd. The second test should be done 30 days after the first test.