Sequence comparison on gag gene of caprine arthritis encephalitis virus from Korea.

Caprine arthritis encephalitis (CAE) is a lentiviral infection in goats characterized by arthritis. Although CAE has been identified in most goat-rearing countries around the world, Korea had been considered to be free from this disease. Here, we determine the partial sequence on the gag gene of caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV) suspect from Korea using nested PCR. Genetic analysis of our isolate showed 93.5 and 90.9% sequence homology with the standard strain CAEV Cork and lentivirus strain, respectively. Our results show that the virus is closely related to other CAEV isolates, and therefore, suggest that the causative agent was CAEV. This is the first outbreak of CAE to be ever reported in a local farm in South Korea.