Caprine herpesvirus 1 (CpHV-1) is an emerging disease of growing importance of goats, especially in thr Mediterranean. CpHV-1 is an Alphaherpesvirus which causes lethal systemic infections in 1- to 2-week-old kids and mild to subclinical infections in adult goats. Clinical manifestations in adult goats involve the respiratory or the reproductive tract depending on the site of virus entry although CpHV-1 infects preferentially the genital mucosa. Following primary genital infection, the virus replicates in the mucosal epithelium and spreads to sacral ganglia to establish latency. Genital CpHV-1 infections are characterized by painful erythematous-oedematous lesions evolving into vesicles and ulcers healing in two weeks.
CpHV-1 can cause pustular vulvovaginitis, balanoposthitis or ulcerative posthitis, respiratory disease, spontaneous abortions neonatal enteritis, generalized infections, and perinatal mortality in kids.
Transmission
Transmission of CpHV-1 in goat flocks is mainly facilitated by natural mating due to selective tropism of CpHV-1 by the genital tract, latency in sacral lymph nodes, and reactivation of latent infection, coincident with estrus.
