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CL positive test...

Posted by Lisa Cotter on March 6, 2014 at 7:24pm in Health

We are interested in purchasing a Nigerian Dwarf doe (4 yrs old), pregnant.

We asked that she be tested for CL, CAE, & Johnes. She came back positive on the CL but has never had any symptoms of the disease. Another goat on the farm tested negative for all the same tests. The owner called the previous owners & she was told the goat has been vaccinated. The vet told her that it is possible to get a false positive due to the goat being vaccinated previously.

If you have any information or experience with this please share.

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Replies

  • Lisa Cotter March 7, 2014 at 1:06pm

    Thank you. This has helped me weigh the pros & cons to the situation. I was leaning towards not taking the chance because as you say the information is second hand & I can't verify that she doesn't have have internal abcesses.

  • Deborah Niemann-Boehle March 7, 2014 at 9:17am
    Well, that is a much more challenging question to answer! I personally would not go on second-hand information. I would want to talk to the person who vaccinated her and find out why. As I said, you really should not vaccinate an animal unless your herd is infected, so did she come from an infected herd? Or was this an uninformed person with an uninformed vet who thought they should vaccinate for everything that existed? And then it will all boil down to whether or not you trust that the person is telling you the truth. If she came from a herd that had it, then you don't really know that she was not infected. Goats can have internal abcesses, which is why there is test. Is this goat awesome enough to take the risk?
  • Lisa Cotter March 7, 2014 at 9:09am

    I do have your book & I've read about it in there. My question mainly is, since she is CL positive is she safe to buy & bring into our herd?

  • Deborah Niemann-Boehle March 6, 2014 at 8:02pm

    Yes, if a goat is vaccinated for CL, testing is worthless because the goat will always test positive, which is why it should only be used on uninfected animals in herds that have had an outbreak. If I remember correctly, you have Raising Goats Naturally, and there is a whole page of info in there on CL.

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