The response against this epitope quickly reached a high level that stayed stable until the end of the experiment at 9 months p.i. The antibody response against specific epitopes of the capsid and surface proteins upon genotype B infection in sheep was clearly more limited than in goats, but the limited amount of antibodies already became detectable during the first three months p.i. and remained at a low level afterwards. This evidence concerns the gene ERVW-1 and infection.