Diversity of caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus promoters isolated from goat milk and passaged in vitro.

Transcriptional regulation in retroviruses resides in the U3 region of the proviral long terminal repeat (LTR). Transcription binding sites (TBS) in the U3 region of proviral sequences derived from the milk of 17 goats infected with caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus (CAEV) were analysed by nested PCR and sequencing. U3 sequences shared a high degree of homology (86-99%) and were closely related to isolates previously ascribed to small ruminant lentivirus subtype B1.

Risk factors for subclinical intramammary infection in dairy goats in two longitudinal field studies evaluated by Bayesian logistic regression.

Identification of risk factors for subclinical intramammary infections (IMI) in dairy goats should contribute to improved udder health. Intramammary infection may be diagnosed by bacteriological culture or by somatic cell count (SCC) of a milk sample. Both bacteriological culture and SCC are imperfect tests, particularly lacking sensitivity, which leads to misclassification and thus to biased estimates of odds ratios in risk factor studies.

Prevalence of and risk factors for Salmonella in water offered to weaned dairy calves in California, USA.

Water from troughs used by weaned dairy calves was sampled on California, USA dairies to determine the prevalence and associated risk factors for Salmonella contamination. Salmonella were found on 4 of 48 dairies (4/82 water samples) in fall 1998 and on 8 of the same 37 dairies (8/83 water samples) in summer, 1999. Serotypes isolated from the water were Salmonella meleagridis and Salmonella typhimurium.