Using caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus antigen in the agar gel immunodiffusion test, 3729 serum samples from goats in over 112 locations around the world were tested for precipitating antibodies. Over 90 per cent of the 1265 positive samples came from Canada, France, Norway, Switzerland and the USA, all of which had 65 per cent reactors or greater. Fiji, Great Britain, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand and Peru had fewer than 10 per cent positive samples; the majority of these could be traced to importations of goats from countries where there was a high occurrence of precipitating antibody. Somalia, Sudan and South Africa had no reactors among 306 samples. No reactors were found among 1116 samples from domestic and indigenous goats which were known to have had no contact with imported goats from countries which had a high occurrence.

Electron microscopy of purified preparations of equine arteritis virus (EAV) revealed enveloped, spherical particles with an average diameter of 55 m~. The envelope was found to carry tiny projections on the surface, 3 to 5 m~ in length. No detailed structure of an internal component could be seen.In sections of EAV infected BHK cells 24 hours after inoculation, viral particles were shown to bud from the cytoplasmic matrix into cisternae of the endoplasmic reticulum, the process starting in the vicinity of the Golgi apparatus. The mature particles had an average diameter of 50 m~, with an inner core measuring 25 m~.

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Sera from 326 Norwegian reindeer (NR) and from 40 Svalbard reindeer (SR) were examined for antibodies to reindeer herpesvirus (RHV), bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) and parainfulenza type 3 virus (PIV-3). No antibodies to any of these three viruses were detected in sera from SR. Sixty-three percent of sera from 101 adult NR (> 12 months old) and 15% of 225 NR calves (6 months old) had antibodies to RHV; corresponding values for BVDV were 41% and 6%, respectively. Twenty-seven percent of adult NR and 1% of NR calves had antibodies to both viruses. No antibodies to PIV-3 were detected in any NR sera