Thougts on disease testing and prevention (long)

[Jan in CO]

Ok, more questions on the hypothetical CAE prevention, etc. Suppose you have a doe, tested CAE negative, and you take her to be bred at another farm, where they have a couple CAE positive does, but those does are penned separately from the rest of the goats who supposedly are negative. OR you have someone else’s doe come to your farm for breeding, and their doe has not been tested or proved to be negative for CAE. (I know, WHY would you do that, but some do.) Can you still be assured that your goats have not been exposed to CAE, or that they have not contracted it? If you test once or twice a year, and your goats have contracted CAE just after being tested, they then will be POSITIVE-right?

OR, another scenario: You take your CAE negative goat to the sale barn, where it is put in a communal pen with other goats, some of which could be positive. Can you truthfully claim your goat is still CAE negative? I see people purchase does there, thinking they are getting a negative goat, while in my mind, they have no assurances whatsoever that the goat is still negative just because the prior owner says so. How crushing it would be to take that goat home, quarantine it for 30 days, thinking “Ok, she seems fine, so I’ll put her in the pen with the others (but not test for CAE)” then find later on when you test the herd that suddenly you have some positive test results.

I’m just asking what has gone through my mind with some folks I know who raise goats, and brag that their animals are CAE free. ARE THEY?? Any thoughts? I think the only way you can assure yourself that your herd stays CAE free, is to not take any to another farm for breeding, nor accept any one else’s animals at your farm for breeding, boarding or whatever. I can’t speak to AI as I’ve not done or checked into that.

I know this is long, but do any of you practice biosecurity measures when you visit another farm, or the local auction barn? (not touching other goats, (CL contamination) sanitizing your shoes before coming back to your vehicle or property, etc?) Just thinking of the extent of the measures they had to do in England after the outbreak of mad cow disease a few years back, when no feed trucks could enter properties, etc. What about doing critter sitting chores for others? We do have boots that we wear to the sale barn, and those boots never go to our barn or livestock areas, but is that enough? Could we be tracking disease to our vehicle, then later picking it up on shoes or boots and transferring it to our animals? I suppose what I’m asking, is this: Do you feel what you are doing to prevent disease spread to your herd is ENOUGH? Jan in Co

[mygoat]

I don't touch goats when I go places. Unless I know they are cl/cae free.

[DocM]

You have to understand how the diseases are transmitted. Most diseases require a fluid or mucous transfer. Most can not survive outide of the body for long. I guess I'm on the very low side of paranoid - because it doesn't matter how careful I am, I still go to shows. I had to chuckle about a scene last year. I bought two does and a buck from a very reputable breeder, I love her goats. She asked specifically that I wear shoes or clothing that I hadn't worn in my barn, yadda, I did all that. She made me use hand sanitizer before I went in her barn. She made me park my trailer WAY down her drive. I loaded up my very healthy new goats and went home. A few months later, we were both at the State Fair. Her family had animals in BOTH the 4H and open barns. If you've seen these places - the public has total access to your pens. Your animals share a common pen wall with other goats. You simply can't avoid contact. Not for a few hours, but for a solid week. I didn't see any hand sanitizer out...