Technical note Preliminary survey for antibodies against caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus (CAEV) using recombinant GAG proteins: studies among small ruminant populations in north-eastern Nigeria S.S. Baba a,* , A.I. Fotabe a , M.M. Baba b , E. Rimstad c a Virology Laboratory, Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Parasitology, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Nigeria b Department of Immunology, College of Medical Sciences, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Nigeria c Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Norwegian College of Veterinary Medicine, Oslo, Norway Accepted 14 November 1999 Abstract A total of 1000 serum samples were obtained from small ruminants in Maiduguri, Borno state, Nigeria and tested for the presence of antibodies against caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus (CAEV) using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) based on p17 and p28 recombinant GAG proteins. The distribution of the sera tested was as follows: 900 serum samples collected at slaughter from 700 goats and 200 sheep in the municipal abattoir as well as 100 sera obtained from 50 each of goats and sheep in four different ¯ocks under the semi-intensive system of animal husbandry. All the animals sampled were aged 2 years and had no previous contact with imported stocks. It was observed that none of the sera had antibody against CAEV. The need to impose strict quarantine as well as the practice of testing and slaughtering of positive animals imported from CAEV endemic areas into Nigeria for breeding are suggested to prevent the introduction of the disease into the country. # 2000 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus (CAEV); Recombinant proteins; ELISA; Small ruminants; Nigeria 1. Introduction Caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus (CAEV) infec- tion continues to be a source of considerable economic losses to goat industries and has a world wide dis- tribution (Adams et al., 1984; Grant et al., 1988; Rimstad et al., 1994; Storset, 1996). The majority of animals in a given farm may be infected and transmissions occur mainly through colostrum and milk as well as by intimate contact (Adams et al., 1983; Ellis et al., 1983). Economic loss due to CAEV infection are largest in countries with intensive animal husbandry. The disease has not been considered important in most parts of Africa where the extensive nomadic husbandry system is being practiced. Never- theless, these regions continue to import animals from CAEV endemic areas for improved animal breeding. No report is available on the prevalence of CAEV infection among small ruminant populations in Nigeria. This could be partly due to poor virus Small Ruminant Research 37 (2000) 137±140 * Corresponding author. E-mail address: yaysib@infoweb.abs.net (S.S. Baba) 0921-4488/00/$ ± see front matter # 2000 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII:S0921-4488(99)00145-5