ABSTRACT. A national serological survey of caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus (CAEV) infection was conducted using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and an agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) test. A total of 658 black goats of various breeds were sampled from 59 farms in three regions of Korea. The CAEV-positive goats were predominantly detected in the Southern region (n=17) as compared with the Northern (n=1) and Central regions (n=0) (χ 2 =6.26, P=0.044). Among 658 goats tested, 18 were positive in both ELISA and AGID, indicating a CAEV prevalence of 2.73% (95% confidence interval: 1. 74-4.28 Caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus (CAEV) belongs to the genus lentivirus, family Retroviridae. CAEV is a persistent disease in goats characterized by polyarthritis, mastitis and pneumonia in adults and leukoencephalomyelitis in kids [4,6]. CAEV has been reported in most goat-rearing countries [1,13]. Live animal trading across national boundaries is considered an important cause of horizontal CAEV transmission, whilst ingestion of colostrums and milk represent important causes of transmission from mother to offspring [3,4]. In 2002, CAEV was identified in Japan [10]. Infected goats develop anti-CAEV antibodies and develop a persistent, lifelong infection. Korea was considered free from CAEV; however, CAEV RNA was detected in Korean dairy goats in 2008 [12], and an outbreak of CAEV was reported on a Korean goat farm in 2010 [14].The period between CAEV infection and the detection of antibodies and onset of clinical signs may vary from months to years [3]. Several diagnostic techniques are used to detect CAEV infections. These are based on the detection of either antibodies or virus [9]. Virus isolation and cell culture detection techniques have been used but cannot be extensively applied, as specific cell types are replicationrestrictive to particular strains [15] and CAEV heterogeneity and low viral loads have hampered the use of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) as a reference technique. In addition, positive PCR results have been obtained in some seronegative animals [9]. Thus, the diagnosis of infection is typically performed by serological testing [9] including enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), and agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) tests, with PCR used to complement serological methods. ELISA represents a more sensitive technique than AGID testing for the detection of CAEV antibodies. Western blotting, radioimmunoassay, and radioimmunoprecipitation are also used as supplementary tests to discriminate for indeterminate results obtained from screening assays.In Korea, the black goat population contains approximately 266,000 animals distributed in 21,000 herds [11]. Approximately 55% of the total goat population lives in the Southern region. Relatively low populations have been recorded in the Northern and Central regions. Although regional serological and virological investigations in dairy goats have been performed [12], no large-scale serological survey has been reported in Korean black goats. I...