Johne’s Disease in Goats

Johne’s disease is a serious wasting disease of goats, which can lead to loss of production and death. The disease affects animals by causing thickening of the intestinal wall resulting in a reduction in the normal absorption of food. The disease is caused by a bacterium (Mycobacterium paratuberculosis) that lives mainly in animal intestines, but can also survive in the outside environment for several months. The disease is seen more often in dairy goats than meat or fibre goats, but all breeds may be infected if they come into contact with the bacterium. Goats acquire infection at an early age through eating contaminated pasture, or drinking contaminated milk or water. The signs of disease develop slowly and the disease is rarely seen in young animals.

In Australia, the disease occurs more frequently in the southern states. Western Australia and the Northern Territory have no known infected goat herds. There are two recognised strains of Johne’s disease in Australia, cattle strain and sheep strain. The cattle strain is the more common infection in goats and mainly associated with dairy goats.  Fibre and meat goats are more likely to be exposed to the sheep strain,

The goat industry program is a sub program of the NJDCP and to find out more about Johne’s disease please see our What is Johne’s Disease? page.

Click on the links for more information about the management of Johne’s disease in sheep and cattle.