Isolation of an adenovirus and an adeno-associated virus from goat kids with enteritis

A dairy goat operation in Minnesota experienced a sudden, markedly increased mortality among its neonatal goats. Approximately 60 of 130 kids (46%) died. The animals had diarrhea and dyspnea of 1-2 days duration before death. Necropsy of 4 goat kids revealed marked, acute, catarrhal enteritis and fibrinous pleuropneumonia. Mannheimia haemolyticawas isolated from the lungs. Basophilic inclusion bodies filling the entire nucleus were present in enterocytes of the ileum of 3 goats. Adenoviral particles were detected in the feces by electron microscopy and adenovirus was subsequently isolated from the intestinal content together with a parvo-like virus (dependovirus). Morphology, physicochemical characteristics, and neutralization tests indicated that the adenovirus resembled ovine adenovirus-2 (OAdV-2). However, the PstI restriction endonu- clease pattern produced by the goat adenovirus was distinct from that of OAdV-2. This is the first report of enteritis in goats with an adenovirus antigenically related to OAdV-2 and with a parvo-like dependovirus. Four goat kids from a caprine dairy farm were sub- mitted to the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, Uni- versity of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, for necrop- sy in March 2001. The farm had 850 milking does (Nubians, LaMancha, and Bohr crosses), but the ap- proximately 100 preparturient does and kids were kept physically separate from the milking herd. Bred does on this farm are routinely transferred to a second farm until parturition. The 4 kids had acute watery, yellow diarrhea, and all died within 4-5 hours after onset of diarrhea. Approximately 130 goat kids were born on the premises. Sixty of these kids died with similar clin- ical signs over a 2.5-month period during the kidding season from January to April, 2001. Only suckling bottle-fed kids were affected, with an age range of 10- 40 days and an average age of 27 days. There was no sex or breed predilection. All kids were routinely sep- arated at birth from the dam and housed initially in groups of 3-4 animals. At 30 days of age, the pens were commingled into larger groups of up to 20 kids per pen for weaning. Young stock were fed heat-pas- teurized goat colostrum for 2 days, followed by cow's milk fed free choice in LamBar-type feeding units until