Two cases are described of female goats, Saanen crossbreds, two months old, with clinical signs of hind limb paresis, incoordination, difficulty breathing and cachexia, which were subjected to euthanasia due to unfavorable prognosis. At necropsy it was possible to observe that there was congestion of the central nervous system (CNS) and pulmonary consolidation in both goats. Microscopic changes were characterized by multifocal lymphoplasmacytic leucoencephalomielitis, with vacuolization of neuropile and axonal spheroids, leptomeningitis, interstitial nonsupurative pneumonia in goat A and bacterial bronchopneumonia in goat B. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was positive for the caprine arthritis - encephalitis virus in thalamus fragments. The agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) test was performed in sera sample of twenty animals and sixteen resulted positive. Diagnosis of the nervous form of caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus (CAEV) infection was based on clinical and pathological status, IHC and AGID. This clinical presentation of CAE could be uncommon in Brazil, but must be considered in case of neurologic diseases in small ruminants.
neurologic disease; small ruminant lentiviruses; leucoencephalomyelitis
