Fig. 1

Clinical changes of goats A.Goat in group IC showed intermittent spasms and convulsions on 4-9 dpi; B. Goats in group IC showed fever and increased body temperature on 4-9 dpi"

Fig. 2

Changes of serum antibodies of goats A. In the VNT, animals were considered seropositive when the neutralizing antibody titre (log2) rose above a threshold of 2 (reference line); B. In the ELISA, PI= [1-(OD sample/mean OD control)]×100; PI values>70% for ELISA were considered to indicate positivity for AKAV antibodies (reference line)"

Fig. 3

Pathogenic detection results of goats A. Quantitative real-time PCR results for AKAV S RNA in blood; B. Quantitative real-time PCR results for AKAV S RNA in various tissues"

Fig. 4

Pathological lesions in tissues or organs from the infected goats A, B, C and D were the brain tissues of IC, IV, SC and control group, respectively. Cerebral edema and a small amount of light yellow cerebral effusion were observed in the brain tissues of goats in IC, and there was no obvious abnormality in the brain tissues of groups IV, SC and control group; E, F, G and H were the lungs of IC, IV, SC and control group, respectively. The lungs of IC group had local congestion and bleeding, while the lungs of IV group had a few hemorrhagic spots. There was no obvious abnormality in the lungs of SC group compared with the control group; I, J, K and L were the spleens of IC, IV, SC and control group, respectively. There are a few hemorrhagic spots in the spleen margin of IC group, and no obvious abnormality in the spleen of IV, SC and control group"

Fig. 5

Histopathological observation on the tissues or organs from the infected goats (HE, 200×) A, B, and C were the medulla oblongata of IC, IV and group SC, respectively. Several glial nodules formed by glial cells were observed in the medulla oblongata of group IC, and inflammatory cells such as multilayer glial cells were infiltrated around the medulla oblongata vessels, forming a "vascular sheath"-like structure. No obvious lesions were observed in medulla oblongata of IV and group SC; D, E and F were the parietal lobes of the IC, IV and SC group, respectively. The cerebral cortex structure of the parietal lobe of the IC group was disorganized, infiltrated by glial cells, meninges and cortical cells, and multi-layer glial cells and other inflammatory cells were infiltrated around the meninges and cortical vessels, forming a "vascular sheath"-like structure. No obvious lesions were observed in the parietal lobes of the IV and SC groups; G, H and I were the spleen of IC, IV and SC group, respectively. In IC group, neutrophils and other inflammatory cells were infiltrated around the local blood vessels of the spleen and in the hepatic sinuses. No obvious lesions were observed in the spleen of IV and SC group"