Experiments were designed to correlate morphologic lesions with the presence of caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus (CAEV). Twenty-one cesarean-derived goat kids were infected with 10(6) to 10(7) TCID50 of virus, killed sequentially, and examined for viral antigens by immunofluorescence, viral infectivity by isolation and titration, and morphologic changes by light microscopy. Fluorescent viral antigens were detected from 1 to 10 days postinoculation (DPI) and only in synovial cells. Virus was reisolated from several joints and from brain 0.5 to 79 DPI. Increases in synovial fluid cell counts were noted by 1 DPI, and morphologic changes in synovial membranes were present from 3 to 45 DPI. Joint lesions progressed from mild synovial cell hyperplasia and perivascular mononuclear cell infiltration to severe synovial cell hyperplasia and mononuclear cell infiltration with villous hypertrophy. Lesions elsewhere were mild, consisting only of perivascular mononuclear cell infiltrates. Eleven cesarean-derived control goats were negative for viral antigens, virus, and morphologic lesions.