Development of a recombinase polymerase amplification lateral flow dipstick (RPA-LFD) for the field diagnosis of caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus (CAEV) infection

•RPA and LFD are combined for portable field detection of CAEV infection.•RPA-LFD assay provides a specific and sensitive platform for detecting CAEV proviral DNA in goat.•The RPA-LFD had significantly higher CAEV-positive rate than ELISA assay.•The developed RPA-LFD reached 96.5% of statistical accuracy for parallel CAEV detection with ELISA assay.•The test is reliable in the field and applicable in the fund should be useful in eradication programs of CAEV.