Johnes Disease pronounced YO-Knees
We are trying to raise awareness of this hidden disease, although the NIPGC aren't aware of any cases in Northern Ireland it is something we want to make people aware of as like everything else it is something that may crop up anywhere from time to time.
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Info from Daera NI (formerly DARD)
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"Johne‘s disease is an infectious wasting condition of cattle and other ruminants caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (commonly known as Map).
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Symptoms of Johne's disease
It is closely related to the organism that causes tuberculosis. The disease progressively damages the intestines of affected animals, and in cattle this results in profuse and persistent diarrhoea, severe weight loss, loss of condition and infertility. Affected animals eventually and inevitably die.
In dairy herds, the presence of Johne’s disease will significantly reduce milk yields well before other signs of the disease can be found.
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Although not a notifiable disease in Great Britain, Johne’s disease is notifiable in Northern Ireland."
In light of a post on here at present I have reposted this post from last year of a situation I found myself in with no one to turn too please read this and remember it is a killer disease that you have very little control over and however clean and pampered your herd is there is always a hidden risk .... GET TESTED
Hi folks yes it's me again No point in beating around the bush I just need to make this point ......... There are other long posts here but this is aimed a different way I'm not telling anyone on here there is a right or wrong way to do things that's up to you and you alone to manage your herds what I do ask is you read this to the very last word and please think about what you have read .... Those of you who have been with us for a while or from the start . Will know my wife and I started this group originally just so we could post some pics of our new babies sorry (kids ) after we first got them . The group grew and somehow our American friends got wind of it and it's grown and grown . However the basics of goat keeping are the same the world over but we have noted huge differences in approaches in the different countries ........
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Here in the UK obviously our properties are generally smaller than in the U.S and so our herds are reduced unless of course you're a commercial breeder... This also transpires to other aspects of husbandry and the way we involve our vets . Here in the UK with our smaller herds we tend to have a more personal relationship with our vets and it would appear that the rise of backyard goat keepers has made our vets a little confused to dealing with us as pet owners or small holders ( non commercial farmers ) here in the UK all goats must be registered to a parish holding number and all movements recorded etc ........
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This obviously helps with detection of disease and tracking the source of the outbreak etc ....... But this doesn't help with such diseases as Johnes disease because we are fully aware that most goat keepers do not know anything about this or even if they have it present in their herd . You may have inherited it from stock you have purchased you may have breed from a perfectly healthy Animal that is a carrier and shows no signs of the disease but unfortunately is passing spores which in turn can be passed on to others in the herd normally youngsters but there is no sure fast way of telling unless you regularly blood test ( even this is confusing and I'm not prepared to confuse you further with how the results can be interpreted .....
Studies show that this disease has been around for years mainly in commercial milking cattle herds but as it can affect any Ruminant animal ( those with 4 stomachs) more and more examples are cropping up in goats and llamas,and alpacas............ We can only be vigilante and know our herd and be responsible for our own actions when buying and selling stock if you regularly 6 month intervals have your stock blood tested for specifics like Johnes you have the opportunity to be a responsible keeper (breeder)
Do not despair if you have a positive result it may not be a death sentence for that animal ... This is something that you will need to discuss with your vet and depending on the herd size and your circumstances careful herd planning may just be required , everyone's circumstances will be different . For example you have two neutered males and one test positives and they are both adults the chances are the discharged spores will not infect the healthy animal . But if you were to introduce a young kid to the group the chances of cross infection would be much greater . This is because the discharged spores are on the feces and do not affect an adult animal the same way as a youngster . If you have a positive female that is in kid you can snatch the kid at birth and bottle feed them keeping it completely away from the female, again the chance of cross contamination is reduced to almost nothing . The positive tested animal can live a normal life until the count becomes to high then unfortunately the infected animal may show sudden weight loss this unfortunately is the start of the end , But an infected animal may live a perfectly normal life for many years again there is no rule of thumb how it affects its host only you and your vet can make the decision when or if you get a positive result
Please please make people you know aware of Johnes disease don't sell your animals without knowing you have negative tested stock and refuse to buy from a source that either hasn't tested or refuses too .... It's the only way this can be managed and the distress it brings to both your Herd and yourself made a thing of the past ... I'm not a vet or an expert on this matter ....... What I am is carer of a herd of awesome little goats who I love dearly and one of which I lost on the 9 th December .... Two weeks prior there was nothing wrong with her it broke my heart .... I'm fortunate to have a great group of people in the farming community of which I have pestered and extracted as much info as I could over the last month , I have a great veterinary practise and a fantastic vet who is working with me to manage this .......
Please help me by doing the same Get your Herd tested . Regards Gary Winfield