Moonlight Farms Goat Herd Health Status

Caprine Arthritis Encephalomyelitis (CAE)

Footrot

Caseous lymphadenitis (CL)

Pinkeye

Soremouth

Parasites

Pneumonia

We have had not had any cases of pneumonia.

Abortion

We have never documented an infectious cause of abortion on the farm from 1999-2018.

Johne's disease

Johne's disease is an insidious bacterial disease that causes wasting. This usually occurs in middle-aged animals, although the course of the disease varies considerably and it should be considered whenever a goat has chronic wasting. Johne's is generally spread from a dam to her kids. The disease can spread to older animals but with much more difficulty than to youngsters a few days old. The most susceptible time period is the short time span right after birth, and the environment needs to be heavily contaminated so that oral exposure occurs. Infected does generally have the organism on their udders, which is how the kids get an early and infectious exposure. The organism can last in soil up to a year, which represents a certain but low risk in extensive pasture-based systems. This is in contrast to more closely housed dairy situations (especially cattle) where significant environmental contamination is assured throughout most facilities, and most youngsters are closely housed in confined groups.

The tests for Johne's disease all have drawbacks, but are useful if used appropriately. The AGID blood test is very specific, meaning that animals that are positive by this are nearly all infected. This test does miss some infected goats, however. The ELISA blood test, in contrast, picks up more of the infected animals (not all) but also tends to pick up as positive some that are not infected, especially if they have been exposed to or vaccinated for Caseous Lymphadenitis. There is also a fecal test that can take up to 14 weeks to complete depending on which method is used (there is a liquid test and a solid test). A negative fecal test is not definitive as the animal can be shedding the bacteria intermittently, or not shedding at all when they are not exhibiting symptoms. A positive fecal test, however, is considered the "gold standard" in testing for Johne's, meaning a positive fecal test result means the animal is infected. The status of the tests is important to consider when evaluating the status of a herd - a negative test coming from a herd with a number of positives is much less reassuring than a negative test coming from a herd of all negatives. Animals are also only likely to be positive by either test if actually shedding the organisms. So, an animal with an early, non-contagious case may well be negative and then become positive only later as it develops the clinical disease and becomes infectious. It is therefore important to evaluate test results on the basis of the entire herd and not only the individuals in the herd. In addition, testing should be done regularly so that those animals that convert to positive status late are culled prior to becoming overly contagious.

All animals currently in our herd tested negative for Johne’s Disease on their AGID blood tests done January 2006, July 2006, August 2007, June 2008 and June 2010. We plan to continue testing periodically prior to breeding. We will not be able to say we have no risk for Johne's, nor can any herd make that claim since testing indicates only no positives at a given time. We feel confident that the present animals in the herd are "low risk". Our plan to test biannually in the fall will allow us to assure ourselves that we remain in the “low-risk” status with respect to this disease. After several consecutive years of negative test results for the entire herd, we will feel confident that we are more along the lines of "little to no risk."