A pygmy goat herd had been managed as the only hoofstock at a farm for 5 years. Kids were born and raised on the premises. Additions to the herd were made from outside sources as well. Several goats in the herd were thin and diarrhea was noted in these animals on occasion by the owner. One goat was sufficiently debilitated to warrant humane euthanasia. This animal was diagnosed with Johne's disease by histopathology (acid-fast organisms were observed in lesions consistent with M. paratuberculosis infection) and the organism was isolated through culture in a number of the goat's tissues. As part of a research prog, the adult goats in this herd were tested by two Johne's disease tests: fecal culture and the ELISA blood test. At the initial testing screen, positive results were obtained for 12 of 30 goats (40%) from either serum antibody, fecal culture or both assays. Four of these 12 goats produced positive results on both tests and 3 of these animals died within four months of the tests. Johne's disease was confirmed as the cause of death at necropsy for all three. Of the 18 goats with negative results on both tests, 12 were test-positive by either fecal culture or antibody ELISA for M. paratuberculosis when tested again within 8 months of the initial testing screen. Of the 30 animals therefore, 24 (80%) were test-positive for M. paratuberculosis infection during a one year assessment period. Case lessons: 1. Pygmy goats are susceptible to infection by M. paratuberculosis.       2. Blood and fecal culture diagnostic assays can effectively be used to determine the prevalence of this disease in a herd.       3. For goat herds with an extensively established infection such as this one, complete depopulation may be the only effective method of eradicating the infection.       4. Efforts to keep this infection out of your herd are much less costly than attempts to control it once it is introduced. The owners of a conservancy farm (Bull Thistle Farm, WI*) bought three adult Tennessee fainting goats (one buck and two does). They were kept in a pasture with other goats plus another heritage breed (e.g. Jacob sheep) and shared a barn with 60 ewes. The adjoining pen held Highland cattle. The buck began to lose weight after being on-site for about 18 months. He was wormed for coccidiosis and Parelaphostrongylus tenuis [meningeal worm] infection several times with no response. He developed a rough coat and became increasingly debilitated although his appetite remained good. No diarrhea was observed. The protein in the 's blood was abnormally low (hypoproteinemia) and when a blood test for Johne's disease was completed (AGID), the result was positive. At necropsy, it was confirmed that the animal was infected by the organism causing Johne's disease (i.e. lesions consistent with the infection were found, an acid-fast staining organism was detected in the tissues and M. paratuberculosis was isolated from multiple tissues through the culture method). The owners purchased more goats from a different source after they had negative test results by AGID. They kept the kids in the herd which soon grew to 40 animals. Two years later however, the herd was down to four animals. The adults had tested positive by AGID for Johne's disease and were culled along with their offspring. (The owner later learned that, despite her instructions to the auction house that the animals were to be sold for slaughter, they were sold to other breeders). The owners had tested the adults twice a year to make sure they detected goats as soon as they began to produce antibody to the infection. They no longer keep goats. The sheep flock and the Highland cattle are also tested annually and have remained test negative. These herds are now managed on a "closed" basis. Case lessons: 1. Tennessee fainting goats can get Johne's disease.   2. Symptoms of the infection are often thought to be due to parasites.   3. Diarrhea is not always a symptom of Johne's disease in goats.   4. You never know what infections may accompany an animal purchased at auction.   5. This infection can be spread from one species (in this case, goats) to other ruminant species (cattle, sheep). Fortunately, in this case, cross-species transfer did not occur.   6. It can be years before you learn whether kids/calves/lambs born to infected dams were infected since the infection takes so long to develop. In this case, the owners took the conservative step of culling the offspring of test-positive animals to ensure that the infection was controlled. *Note: This case has been reported with permission of the owners who encourage all heritage breed managers to be aware of Johne's disease as a possible threat to the health of their animals.

OUR TRUE STORY
by Deb Frost, Spring Promise Pygmies, Meadow Lakes, Alaska

"If it can happen to us, it can happen to anyone. In 1998, I air-shipped nine adult Pygmy goats from my farm in Michigan to my new home in Alaska. I have always kept up with testing for infectious diseases, but to be double sure, we tested yet again before spending thousands of dollars for shipping. My goats arrived in Alaska test-negative for Johne's disease, CAE and CL.

On the word of a local dairy goat breeder that her herd was free of these infections, we boarded our herd on her farm for four months while building our new barn. When we finally moved our lovely, show quality Pygmies to their new home, this breeder gave us as a "barn warming gift" an Oberhasli doe - in case we ever needed to bottle feed. We are sure this woman believed her herd was free from disease and we hold no resentment towards her. I didn't discover until a year later she had never actually tested her herd for Johne's disease. We sold the Oberhasli doe. We will never know for sure if this was the source of contamination, but it seems the most likely.

It was nearly three years later when our promising young buck, Spring Promise Glacier Moon, started losing weight. KNOWING all our animals had tested free of Johne's disease when shipped up here and knowing "Jimmy" had been born and raised on our farm, we were at a loss. We treated for everything we could think of only to watch him slowly deteriorate before our eyes. When he finally could nolonger stand, we reluctantly had him put down and had a necropsy performed.The acid fast test results on tissue collected at necropsy came back positive forJohne's disease.

Our vet took blood samples from all the goats on our farm over a year of age (10 animals) and sent them to the lab for testing. We had two additional positives (by both AGID and ELISA). We also had several who tested inconclusively (slightly elevated antibody levels that are not high enough to be interpreted as positive - yet). All our younger animals were too young to test reliably but we had to presume they had been at least exposed if not infected. Six of our does were pregnant but the recommendations for blocking the transmission of Johne's disease to kids are not feasible for us. We had no other barn for test-negative animals or babies and due to both work schedules and health issues, no way to pull babies at birth, remove them to a clean environment and bottle-feed them. We also had no source of guaranteed uncontaminated colostrum for these kids even if we could manage the rest.

Physically, financially and emotionally, we saw no way to attempt the difficult road to eradication of Johne's disease from our small but valuable herd. Culling, testing, pulling kids, moving to clean barns, testing, culling additional test-positives, waiting and testing . . . over and over for years until either all the animals were dead or we finally managed to attain Johne's disease-free status (most likely consisting of none but any babies we managed to pull, bottle feed and keep completely isolated from their dams and all other goats). It was either attempt this or admit defeat and put down our entire herd.

We spared two 5 year old does who have consistently tested negative. They will go to a "clean" farm with no other cloven hoof livestock where they can kid. Once they wean their kids, these two older does will return here alone to live out their lives as pets and to give our grieving Livestock Guardian Dog something to care for. The remainder of our herd (fourteen much loved animals in all not counting the fetuses they were carrying) have been destroyed. The dream that was Spring Promise Pygmies has been destroyed. All for the lack of asking one simple question. "Do you test for Johne's disease?"

We have given permission to print this story to the Johne's Testing Center at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine."

Update: After waiting nearly two years (twice the usually recommended time span) to be sure their property was fully free of the bacteria that causes Johne's disease, Spring Promise Pygmies eventually bought new seed stock - these Pygmy goats came from tested, disease free herds.  They test annually and have been completely Johne's free for four years as of January 2007.

Case lessons(from the owners):

	1.	Always inquire about the Johne's disease status of a herd and ask to review their test results.
	2.	Buy new stock (kids or adults) only from a herd that has no less than a 3 year history of annual negative Johne's disease (and other diseases) test results.
	3.	Test your own herd annually. Complacency CAN kill. Isolate and test any incoming animals.

Case lessons(from the veterinarians at the Johne's Testing Center):

	1.	A single test may not detect an infected animal since the disease is slow to develop.
	2.	It is better to work with herd owners that test for the infection, even if they may have detected a case of Johne's disease in the past, than to work with owners that never screen for the infection.
	3.	Not all animals in a herd may become infected (see Case 2) when a case is diagnosed in a herd. Keeping track of goat-to-goat contact patterns and offspring records can help you assess the likelihood that a goat was exposed and perhaps infected.
	4.	Each herd owner has to develop his/her own tolerance for the risk of spreading the infection and the cost/benefit of controlling the infection once it has been introduced. There is no one "best" approach - just the "best" approach for managing the infection in your particular situation. This approach should be developed in close consultation with your veterinarian.