Ultrasound features of the carpal joint of goats carrying goat arthritisencephalitis virus arthritisencephalitis of goats

Abstract

Ultrasound diagnosis of pathologies of the musculoskeletal system is common in both veterinary and human medicine. This research method allows you to visualize the anatomical structures of the joint to determine pathological changes in individual areas. Caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus is one of the types of infectious agents that affect the condition of joints in goats. Clinical signs are observed mainly in adult goats, but can also occur in young animals as young as 6 months of age. The disease is characterized by long-term asymptomatic virus carriage with the subsequent development of signs of damage to the respiratory system, joints of the limbs and udder, as well as the central nervous system. The article describes the results of ultrasound examinations of the carpal joint of goats of different age groups (from 1 year to 4 years) affected by the goat arthritis-encephalitis virus. According to the results of a clinical examination of the distal thoracic limbs of the studied goats, pathological changes were detected in 75% of animals older than one and a half years. Ultrasound examination visualized tendons, paraarticular tissues, articular surfaces of bones, cartilage, the presence of osteophytes and free chondromic bodies. The main ultrasonographic signs of damage to the articular surfaces and surrounding tissues in goat arthritis-encephalitis were determined, namely the presence of fluid inclusions in the periarticular tissues, thickening of the tendons, cartilage deformation, subchondral surface of the bones and mineralized inclusions. Thus, in animals under the age of one and a half years, signs characteristic of the initial stage of arthrosis were revealed, in the absence of a pronounced clinical picture. Thus, the use of ultrasound will allow early diagnosis of joint lesions in animals at enterprises with goats unaffected by arthritisencephalitis.