# Caprine Arthritis-Encephalitis



## peak (Apr 27, 2009)

new to the forum, new to goats fo that matter...my appologies if my questions are redundant, ignorant, or just plain ridiculous ...

I've been led to believe by a coworker that CAE is an epidemic to be taken very serioulsy, and I wanted to see what y'all had to say about it...

how wide spread is it? is it really a "death sentence"? is there a geographical component to it? is it more prevalent in certain regions? Western Colorado? Should EVERYBODY test all their goats? symptoms?

Jeff Peak
Palisade, CO


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## Rex (Nov 30, 2008)

Hi Jeff,
CAE is very wide spread and most breeders view it as a problem. It is passed most commonly from mother to kid through the milk. Most breeders test for it and have a CAE preventative program in place in which they heat treat the milk prior to feeding it to the kids. This kills the virus and allows CAE positive does to have CAE negative kids. While an important issue, its far from a death sentence and many goats who test positive never develop symptoms. The symptoms include swollen joints, most commonly the front knees. It becomes painful for the goat to walk and they spend most of their time laying around the barn. Not a big issue if you are raising goats for dairy or pleasure. If you plan to use the goat for packing then its much more important to make sure you are getting CAE free kids from the breeder. No one wants to risk raising a goat for three years only to have it come up lame just as it hits its prime.

If you plan to purchase kids for packing always ask the breeder to see the test results and ask about their prevention program. Its not good enough to simply say they have never had any symptoms. I have found that in most cases theses goats are positive. (Get a money back guarantee in writing)

On the other hand, if you already have goats and they test positive there is no reason to panic and sell them. Many people have packers that are CAE positive who are leading productive lives. Just be aware that they may develop symptoms in the future and you'll have to retire them immediately.

The other issue is that taking CAE positive goats to functions with other goats makes people very nervous. It can be spread by bodily fluid transfer from one goat to another. Though very rare, its a risk most owners with CAE negative goats don't want to take.


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## Hasligrove (Dec 10, 2008)

I agree with Rex. You want to make sure you aid in the prevention of the disease and not suport someone or have practices that enables the spread of the disease. 

One problem with testing kids is that you can get a false positive if they are under the age of 1 year old. So you can't have the kids tested prior to purchasing them. My kids I got from a breeder that tests every doe yearly and is CAE negative. I wasn't really worried about it but I still test the kids when they turn 1 year so I can have the answer for myself for sure even though they are wethers.


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## Stoneyridge (Apr 21, 2009)

If you have an adult doe, when is the best time to test? I got into goats before learning about CAE, and would like to have all of my goats tested. But, I think I read something about the estrous cycle (or maybe stage of pregnancy?) affecting the test results. I can't find the article again.


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## Rex (Nov 30, 2008)

I believe you can test does anytime. The test is a simple blood test looking for antibodies to the virus. Kids that have been fed from a CAE positive doe, even if the milk is heat treated, will test "false positive" because the antibodies from the doe are passed to the kid even though the virus itself was killed by the heat treatment. The does antibodies will generally be flushed out of the kids system by one year of age so many people recommend waiting till then to have them tested to get a more accurate result. Of course kids from a negative doe should test negative anytime.

This is a very brief description of the process. The testing is quite involved and different types of tests are more acurate than others.


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## sweetgoatmama (Dec 10, 2008)

Washington State University has a fact sheet on CAE, You can google WSU goat and CAE and find the latest info on it.

CAE is not a death sentence but is something that can cause arthritis in 3-4 year old goats, just when you've gotten extremely attached to them and they are ready to go to full work.

Testing the does or requiring tests from the doe's owner are the only ways to know for sure and preferably buying from farms that test every year and have multi generational negative doe tests.

70% of goats with CAE never have symptoms but the 30% is high enough to make me not want to have CAE positive goats.


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