CAE & Johne’s Testing

We offer a range of testing options depending on you herds needs, please contact us to make a booking or for further information.

Regularly testing breeding stock is an important part of the breeding process, the last thing any owner wants is disease on their property.

CAE & Johne’s are both extremely debilitating contagious disease’s without any cure. The impact these diseases can have on a herd or flock is astronomical. Not only is production reduced your animals suffer once symptoms are present, the ONLY way to reduce the risk and manage these disease’s is through regular testing. 

Pet goat owners often don’t see the need for testing as they aren’t breeding however I do strongly recommend pet goats be tested and any new ones being added to a herd are tested before arrival to ensure your beloved pets aren’t at the mercy of these awful disease’s.  

What are these diseases ?

Johne's disease 

Johne’s disease is a contagious, chronic, often fatal infection that primarily affects the small intestine of ruminants. It is caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP). The intestine walls thicken, preventing the normal absorption of food causing the animal to utilize fat and muscle reserves, leading to wasting and starvation of the animal. MAP is a global problem believed to be capable of infecting and causing disease in all ruminants (e.g., cattle, sheep, goats, llama, and deer) both in captive and free-ranging living conditions. In goats the disease causes chronic enteritis, eventually expressed as progressive weight loss and associated clinical signs.

 

CAE - Caprine Arthritis and Encephalitis

Caprine arthritis-encephalitis is caused by a lentivirus, a type of retrovirus, which is a family of pathogens responsible for many immunodeficiency diseases in many species, and most breeds of goats are susceptible. CAE causes multiple diseases in goats: arthritis, pneumonia, mastitis and weight loss in adults, and encephalitis (inflammation of the brain and brain stem) in kids.