The first year of the CAE Flock Accreditation Scheme

Authors: MacDiarmid SC
Publication: New Zealand Veterinary Journal, Volume 33, Issue 12, pp 217, Dec 1985
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

Animal type: Goat, Livestock, Production animal, Ruminant
Subject Terms: Biosecurity, Joint/arthrology, Viral, Syndrome, Disease/defect, Infectious disease, Disease control/eradication, Epidemiology
Article class: Correspondence

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Abstract: In October 1984 the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) opened a voluntary scheme to accredit flocks free from caprine arthritis encephalitis (CAE). The scheme was designed in consultation with the New Zealand Goat Council and the Council of the New Zealand Veterinary Association. After 12 months operation, it is appropriate to review the progress made with this scheme. The CAE virus was first isolated in New Zealand by Oliver in 1981. A survey conducted by MAF the following year found 1.5% of goats and 15.7% of flocks tested had antibodies against CAE virus. Testing during the first year of the CAE flock accreditation scheme has found that 1.8% of serum samples and 17.5% of flocks are positive for CAE. Evidence of infection has been found in all breeds tested. By 1 October 1985,19 flocks had achieved accredited CAEfree status and several hundred had undergone pre-accreditation testing (Table II). The figure for pre-accreditation tests is misleading…

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