Problemy w diagnostyce lentiwirusów małych przeżuwaczy (SRLV)

Abstract

Small ruminant lentiviruses (SRLVs), it is a group, which include, maedi-visna virus(MVV), and caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV). They cause multisystemic,chronic infections and inflammatory lesions in the affected goats and sheep.SRLVs have a worldwide distribution. Since there are no vaccines or effectivedrugs available against SRLVs infection, and control of the disease relies mainlyon the identification and elimination of infected animals. Therefore, the broad useof sensitive and specific diagnostic tests is immensely important. The diagnosisis based either on the detection of SRLV-specific antibodies using serologicaltests, or on detection of the viral genome by molecular assays. However, earlyand definitive diagnosis is complicated and a “gold standard” test with broadapplicability have not been developed yet. Major obstacles in the developmentof effective diagnostic tests are high genetic variability of SRLVs associatedwith frequent mutations, recombination, and interspecies transmission. Then,the measurement of humoral immune responses of small ruminants in terms oflate seroconversion and intermittent and epitope-specific antibody production.The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the methods routinelyused to diagnose infected animals and to discuss current and future prospects,challenges and limitations in SRLV diagnosis.