Caprine arthritis encephalitis (CAE) is a viral disease causing chronic joint disease and neurological problems in goats. Prevention through biosecurity is far more effective than management.
CAE causes significant chronic welfare harm to affected goats. The progressive arthritis causes swollen, painful joints that worsen over months to years, eventually severely limiting mobility and causing constant pain. Affected goats lose body condition, have difficulty competing for resources, and experience a slow functional decline. Without pain management, CAE goats suffer chronically for their remaining productive and post-productive lives. The entirely preventable nature of the disease - through kid separation and colostrum pasteurization - makes the prevalence of CAE a preventable welfare failure at the herd management level. Farms that do not implement CAE prevention programs allow new infections to occur repeatedly with predictable welfare consequences.