ALSO SEE
JOHNE'S
DISEASE: IT’S NOT JUST FOR CATTLE ANYMORE!
"If
it can happen to us, it can happen to anyone. In 1998, I air-shipped nine
adult Pygmy goats from my farm in Michigan to my new home in Alaska. I
have always kept up with testing for infectious diseases, but to be double
sure, we tested yet again before spending thousands of dollars for shipping.
My goats arrived in Alaska test-negative for Johne's disease, CAE and CL.
On
the word of a local dairy goat breeder that her herd was free of these
infections, we boarded our herd on her farm for four months while building
our new barn. When we finally moved our lovely, show quality Pygmies to
their new home, this breeder gave us as a "barn warming gift" an Oberhasli
doe - in case we ever needed to bottle feed. We are sure this woman believed
her herd was free from disease and we hold no resentment towards her. I
didn't discover until a year later she had never actually tested her herd
for Johne's disease. We sold the Oberhasli doe. We will never know for
sure if this was the source of contamination, but it seems the most likely.
It
was nearly three years later when our promising young buck, Spring Promise
Glacier Moon, started losing weight. KNOWING all our animals had tested
free of Johne's disease when shipped up here and knowing "Jimmy" had been
born and raised on our farm, we were at a loss. We treated for everything
we could think of only to watch him slowly deteriorate before our eyes.
When he finally could nolonger stand, we reluctantly had him put down and
had a necropsy performed.The acid fast test results on tissue collected
at necropsy came back positive forJohne's disease.
Our
vet took blood samples from all the goats on our farm over a year of age
(10 animals) and sent them to the lab for testing. We had two additional
positives (by both AGID and ELISA). We also had several who tested inconclusively
(slightly elevated antibody levels that are not high enough to be interpreted
as positive - yet). All our younger animals were too young to test reliably
but we had to presume they had been at least exposed if not infected. Six
of our does were pregnant but the recommendations for blocking the transmission
of Johne's disease to kids are not feasible for us. We had no other barn
for test-negative animals or babies and due to both work schedules and
health issues, no way to pull babies at birth, remove them to a clean environment
and bottle-feed them. We also had no source of guaranteed uncontaminated
colostrum for these kids even if we could manage the rest.
Physically,
financially and emotionally, we saw no way to attempt the difficult road
to eradication of Johne's disease from our small but valuable herd. Culling,
testing, pulling kids, moving to clean barns, testing, culling additional
test-positives, waiting and testing . . . over and over for years until
either all the animals were dead or we finally managed to attain Johne's
disease-free status (most likely consisting of none but any babies we managed
to pull, bottle feed and keep completely isolated from their dams and all
other goats). It was either attempt this or admit defeat and put down our
entire herd.
We
spared two 5 year old does who have consistently tested negative. They
will go to a "clean" farm with no other cloven hoof livestock where they
can kid. Once they wean their kids, these two older does will return here
alone to live out their lives as pets and to give our grieving Livestock
Guardian Dog something to care for. The remainder of our herd (fourteen
much loved animals in all not counting the fetuses they were carrying)
have been destroyed. The dream that was Spring Promise Pygmies has been
destroyed. All for the lack of asking one simple question. "Do you test
for Johne's disease?"
Case
lessons (from the owners):
1. Always inquire about the Johne's disease status of a herd and ask to
review their test results.
2. Buy new stock (kids or adults) only from a herd that has no less than
a 3 year history of annual negative Johne's disease (and other diseases)
test results.
3. Test your own herd annually. Complacency CAN kill. Isolate and test
any incoming animals.
Case
lessons (from the veterinarians at the Johne's Testing Center):
1. A single test may not detect an infected animal since the disease is
slow to develop.
2. It is better to work with herd owners that test for the infection, even
if they may have detected a case of Johne's disease in the past, than to
work with owners that never screen for the infection.
3. Not all animals in a herd may become infected (see Case 2) when a case
is diagnosed in a herd. Keeping track of goat-to-goat contact patterns
and offspring records can help you assess the likelihood that a goat was
exposed and perhaps infected.
4. Each herd owner has to develop his/her own tolerance for the risk of
spreading the infection and the cost/benefit of controlling the infection
once it has been introduced. There is no one "best" approach - just the
"best" approach for managing the infection in your particular situation.
This approach should be developed in close consultation with your veterinarian.
ALSO SEE JOHNE'S
DISEASE: IT’S NOT JUST FOR CATTLE ANYMORE!
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