Chlamydia?

[chma4]

So, I don't know if any of you remember me, but I have had two does lose their kids, and then, their lives, this month. I have 5 more does to kid, but are due end of April. Well, just got notice back from doc, that the one of my does I brought for blood work and fecal, is positive for Chlamydia. He said she had a very low titer for Leptospirosis, had barber pole worms (even though I have been worming with quest), and now tonight called and left a message that she is ALSO positive for chlamydia. I have never had a goat with pink eye or pneumonia. I have the same buck I have had for years. I have not bred him out to anyone else. I have had him since he was a kid. My goats go to the fair in August, but doc seems to think this is a current infection. Is it possible they got this from the barn swallows, or sparrows that swarm my barn? I have an old 14000 sq ft retired dairy barn that the pesky buggers love.
Does anyone have experiences with this?
I am worried, because we were all (including my 8 year old daughter) elbow deep in the one doe trying to get these kids out of her. We saved one of these kids, and it lives IN MY HOME! How worried should I be here?
I am going to call the pediatrician in the morning, but really do not know how to breech the subject of CHLAMYDIA in an eight year old with them???????
Any advice or help would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Christina

[CarolT]

Just explain to the dr that you had a goat having difficulty, your daughter helped you and now you find out it was positive for chlamydia. You're not sure if it's a strain that is zoonotic but would like to have her find out what is the best way to handle this. I think it's treatable, which will make it much easier, but you need to see what you need to do and get it treated before there's any chance of it becoming a problem. I am so sorry for your losses and problems. It's adding insult to injury

ETA Ask the vet about the baby in your house. I wish you and it all good luck!

[Lada]

I am not positive on this, but I don't think it's the same chlamydia. You can get pinkeye from the goats if they have it, but it's not the same as the sexually transmitted chlamydia that humans get.

I have had pinkeye in my goats this spring and someone told me that even flies could spread it.

Talk to your vet about oxytetracycline. It's an antibiotic that is useful in treating chlamydia. If your other goats have it, they will abort too.

Also, I don't think chlamydia kills. You might be dealing with something else there.

[prairiedog]

Merck Veterinary Manual

[JBarGFarmKeeper]

Chlamydia: Pinkeye, Weak Kids, and Abortions

Here is an informative article on this topic as well as treatment suggestions.

[SpiderLegs]

Sounds like your wormer is not working or was too weak..... you did push it all out and mix it up first right? Otherwise you just gave the filler and they were never wormed.

Pink eye can be spread by flies, I'd be thanking those pesky swallows, because they are helping by eating them.

Chlamydia can lay dormant for a long time, it might have been brought in from the fair, now as it goes through the herd they will become immune to the strain, but you could get another strain and you will have abortions.

I let a big time breeder piggy back an adult for transport in my trailer one year, lost every breeding I had the following year, traced it back to the doe I had hauled.

[chma4]

No I did not push it (the quest) all out, and mix it first. I had no idea, thought it was mixed already??
I have LA 200 and after I talk to vet, I will start them all on it. If I treat now, will they still all abort? Do I have a shot at saving anymore of these babies?
My research tells me that I should be ok with the baby in my home, because she was long since dry when I brought her in, and the disease is passed by fresh vaginal secretions. We did use gloves, and we did scrub up in a warm soapy bucket in the barn. We also all washed up when we got in the house. I am still concerned though. When it comes to your ids, you can never be too safe.
Thanks, and any and all input is welcome.
Thanks again
Christina

[CarolT]

There are different strains of chlamydia, not all cause pinkeye. Or this is what I have understood. However, it may have been an extremely mild case you didn't really notice. Get your vet and human doctors on board and in agreement I don't know if you'll have any luck this year with the babies but if by any chance someone wasn't exposed or if they were vaccinated and kept a titer, they can have healthy babies.

[JBarGFarmKeeper]

Originally Posted by chma4

I have LA 200 and after I talk to vet, I will start them all on it. If I treat now, will they still all abort? Do I have a shot at saving anymore of these babies?

It is my understanding that this and most other abortion diseases respond to oxytetracycline. It is safe during pregnancy and that, yes, you can treat anyone still bred now. If you have several, I would invest in a bottle of Biomysin because it is in a non-sting carrier. I, personally, have trouble giving the LA200 as they scream and flop around. I would give the suggested "goat dose" 5 days straight. Save the LA200 for uterine washes and calves (if you have them). Here's my reference for the goat dose...

LA 200, Maxim 200, Biomycin (oxytetracycline 200 mg/ml) - Over-the-counter broad-spectrum antibiotic. Thick (use an 18 gauge needle and give SQ over the ribs) and may sting. Oxytretracycline 200 mg/mL must be used to treat abortion "storms." No vaccines are available to treat abortion diseases in goats and no off-label vaccines are effective in preventing abortion diseases in goats. Oxytetracycline 200 mg/ml is the goat producer's only choice. Also used to treat Pinkeye, even in pregnant does, because an abortion-causing organism can cause one strain of Pinkeye. Used both injectably for all Pinkeye and topically (in non-ulcerated eyes) for Pinkeye. Effective in treating hoof rot/hoof scald infections. Use 1 cc per 20 lbs. body weight SQ daily for a minimum of five consecutive days. The non-sting version of oxytetracycline 200 mg/ml is called Biomycin. Oxytetracycline 200 mg/ml is sold under several brand names; check the content label for correct 200 mg/ml strength. Turns a dark red when opened and air enters the bottle, but if kept under controlled climatic conditions and used before the expiration date, it should work fine.

Goat Medications and How To Use Them

[Lada]

I had one doe abort and then after noticed signs of pinkeye. I treated everyone (including four pregnant does) with LA200, but I used 3ml/100 pounds. So far, no other abortions. None have kidded yet, so I don't know if we will get live kids or not. I know it does sting, but none of my goats flopped around or screamed.

[Backfourty,MI.]

I don't have any advice to offer but wanted to send you internet hugs! Tough spring this year for you & quite a few folks already. I'll keep my fingers crossed that you have some healthy, bouncy babies out of the next does & things get better soon.

[mygoat]

I'd treat your entire herd. Depending on their pregnancy, they may or may not abort.

I would use a feed through. Giving shots works but for some it's not doable (for example, we have wild hard to catch boers. Goats get progressively harder to catch when they know a shot is coming, too! ) We've sucessfully used 10g chlortetracycline pellets. The abortion preventative dosage is 200mg/head/day. If you want to TREAT using the pellet, you can also calculate how many mg you'd normally give as a shot to the goats, then feed that amount as well. Prevention is suggested in herds that have had 'abortion storms', every year for the last 6 weeks of gestation. When I was feeding 20 goats, I was mixing half a pound per day in the grain for the ENTIRE herd. It cost us 25.00 for a 50lb bag of 10g pellets. There is also 4g chlortetracycline pellets but those weren't as economical and you need to feed more of them, obviously - but if you have less goats it makes measuring the amount easier.

10g pellet has 10,000mg per lb, 4g has 4000mg per lb.

[JBarGFarmKeeper]

Originally Posted by mygoat

I'd treat your entire herd. Depending on their pregnancy, they may or may not abort.

I would use a feed through. Giving shots works but for some it's not doable (for example, we have wild hard to catch boers. Goats get progressively harder to catch when they know a shot is coming, too! ) We've sucessfully used 10g chlortetracycline pellets. The abortion preventative dosage is 200mg/head/day. If you want to TREAT using the pellet, you can also calculate how many mg you'd normally give as a shot to the goats, then feed that amount as well. Prevention is suggested in herds that have had 'abortion storms', every year for the last 6 weeks of gestation. When I was feeding 20 goats, I was mixing half a pound per day in the grain for the ENTIRE herd. It cost us 25.00 for a 50lb bag of 10g pellets. There is also 4g chlortetracycline pellets but those weren't as economical and you need to feed more of them, obviously - but if you have less goats it makes measuring the amount easier.

10g pellet has 10,000mg per lb, 4g has 4000mg per lb.

This method was suggested in the article I posted first in this thread on Chlamydia....

If it's just a few does now...I'd give the shots. The article suggests "pre-treating" this fall and then using the feed as Dona suggests.

[lexa]

Have you tested your buck?
He could have gotten it from his mother during birth. Friend of mine had a cat like that.

[chma4]

Now that I have had lots of time to think about this, I am thinking that we dealt with chlamydia last spring. i had kids with goopy eyes. i treadted them with and antibiotic opthalmic ointment, and thought nothing more of it. Also, last spring (same time), there was a small bird nesting above the birthing stalls. In my reading, I have learned that sparrows are known carriers of chlamydia. This is all starting to make sense.
With the lepto, last year after the fair, All of my fair girls busted out with watery diahreah. I wormed and treated with pepto, and after a few days, all but one were better. One doe, we lost, but she was new tothe herd and I wrote it off. I assumed it was stress or a worm loade. Now I am realizing it was not. it was most likely the lepto outbreak. So now I am left pondering these "abortions". One was in fact an abortion, she was only about 14 weeks along. The other was exactly 143 days along. I also had issue with a protein pail around the time the first one aborted.
I am now thinking that the barber pole worms combined with the protein pail are the culprits in this. I think those other infections, were simply positive titers from past infections.
Anyway, i went today and took a urine test for chlamydia, and will go soon for a serum on lepto, just to be cautious.

[mygoat]

I didn't see it till now - but LEPTOSPIROSIS does cause abortions as well AND CAN INFECT HUMANS and is very common. It's kinda scary because it causes flu like symptoms and has many complication possibilities. I work at the Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health here at Michigan State University. Carole Bolin, my section manager, is probably the #1 authority on leptospirosis - she's even had it once, herself. 2 to 20 day incubation period. Normally transmitted from urine of infected animals, but it does say on the wiki page that slaughterhouse workers are at risk being exposed to bodily fluids. I've seen some does have urine/poo come out when they pass a baby, so it could be passed that way, too.

Leptospirosis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Did they send in serum for blood testing for Lepto? I'd talk to your vet about that result asap. I think the serum is pretty accurate (more so than the urine LFA) so if the goat IS positive for Lepto discuss with your vet and your doctor the risks and keep an eye on your health.

[CaliannG]

Christina, have you/do you copper bolus? Copper bolus is one of the more effective treatments against barberpole worms, and keeps the load down. I believe in a lot of areas, barberpoles have become resistant to Quest.

And I agree that it is a list of problems that, combined, equal insanity. A mineral deficiency (like copper) can cause an increase in worm loads (especially the barberpole in a copper-deficient goat), which plays heck with the immune systems and allows all sorts of infections that would normally be minor turn into Really Big Deals.

Sounds like you have suffered a bad domino effect.

[chma4]

The results of blood work showed that my does are not copper deficient. I thought of that as well.
Also, I had a urine Chlamydia test, and a serum lepto test drawn on my self yesterday.

[CarolT]

Good luck on the results. So sorry you have had all these problems. Hopefully, now that it's found, it can be resolved and you won't have any more heartbreak.

[mygoat]

Blood serum testing for copper levels is NOT known to be super accurate, from what I understand.