Efecto del virus de artritis encefalitis caprina en el aparato reproductor de machos caprinos Effect of the caprine arthritis encephalitis virus in the reproductive system of male goats

The effect of the Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis Virus (CAEV) on the reproductive system of the male goat was evaluated. Fourteen adult males distributed into 4 groups were studied: I) negative control (uninfected animals) (n=3); II) animals experimentally infected with an autochthonous CAEV (FES-C.UNAM isolate) (n=3); III) naturally infected animals (n=5); IV) animals experimentally infected with CAEV reference strain from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) (n=3). Blood and semen samples were collected every 30 days and ani- mals were clinically evaluated (especially for possible external genital alterations) during 10 months. No differences in scrotal diameter, seminal motility, seminal pH, color and volume were found among the four groups. Antibodies against CAEV were detected by ELISA in blood serum and seminal fl uid in animals infected with the autochthonous strain after 7 months, in animals experimentally infected with the reference strain after 3 months and animals ...