Ever since I got my goats I have tested annually for Caseous Lymphadenitis (CL) and Caprine Arthritic Encephalitis (CAE). I had been told it was a good idea and saw many herds stating that they were CL and CAE negative. I never asked why it was so important to test for these. Here is why you should.
-CL is an untreatable disease that affects the lymphatic system of goats and other mammals. CL is caused by the bacterium Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, it can show it’s self in lumps around the lymph nodes, by the neck, jaw, shoulder, flank, udder, and along the back of the thigh. They can also have internal abscesses on their lungs and livers as well. The bacterium is spread by the puss that comes out of the abscess and also can be spread by the goats coughing and the mucus from them coughing. When the bacterium enters it goes through the goat’s blood stream. The bacterium then works on destroying the lymph tissue. It can get into the lymph node and then fill it, not letting the lymph node or nodes work properly. The lymph system is very important to all bodies. The lymphatic system helps fight illnesses and bacteria. So CL compromises the system. When the immune system cannot work properly and therefore your goat can get even sicker an even die. CL can take 2 weeks to many months to be seen.
-Even though CL is untreatable, there is a vaccine. However it is not approved for lactating goats.
-Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis can infect humans as well. It is only thought to infect humans if they get the pus in their mouth, however this is not known for certain. So, always be careful when dealing with goats that have Caseous Lymphadenitis or the possibility of having it.
-Not all abscesses are CL. So do not worry too much if your goat gets a lump however treat it as soon as possible. If you think it might be CL you can take the goat to the vet and have the puss tested to check for CL. Remember the Lymph Node is usually were CL abides and is around the neck, jaw, shoulder, flank, thigh, and udder. Some abscesses such as those on the jaw can be caused by food stuck in their cheek. And other lumps can be caused by other infections or bugs bites or if they are in a pasture with branches they can get a lump from running into a tree to hard. And if your give an injection wrong that can leave a lump too. Whenever working with goats with abscesses it would be a good idea to wear gloves no matter what they have so you do not get sick too or pass on the infection to other animals you may have.
-In 2007 up to 81% of Dairy goats had CAE.1 CAE is a disease that kills white blood cells in your goat, damaging and hurting their immune system. CAE shows itself by swelling around the knees, so knobby looking knees, and sometimes hardness in the udder. Some goats will not show any signs and still have CAE. On some goats if they do not have hair is missing on their knees it could mean they have CAE. Young goats who have CAE sometimes lean their head against a wall, because of inflammation of the brain stem and brain tissues. CAE is passed through colostrum, milk, and body fluids, (such as semen from bucks.)You can take the kids off their dams and pasteurize the dam’s milk and then feed it to the kids and you can cut down on CAE spreading. A goat can get CAE and not show any signs for month and years, in fact many goats never show any signs through their whole life. Currently there is no known cure or vaccine. And it is not known to be communicable to humans.
-Testing for CL and CAE is an important thing to do. Both are very painful for the animal and can cause production and longevity to go down not only for one goat but for your entire herd. Testing yearly would be a good idea if you take your goats to shows or you have a new goat in your herd or if the neighbor’s goat came over for a visit. If your herd is a closed herd in would not hurt to have them tested every 5 years just to make sure all is well as goats can be asymptomatic.
-The most common and reliable why to test for both CL and CAE is with blood testing. You can have your veterinarian draw the blood and send it to a lab for you. You can draw the blood yourself however people get a lot more false positives that way. You can sometimes get false negatives too so that is a reason why testing yearly is a good idea. You want NEGATIVES for both CL and CAE.
-I now know why I test for CL and CAE and am glad even though I did not know what they were that I tested for them. I hope to share this with many people who are having problems with CL and CAE in their herds all around the world.
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