Test for para-tbc outdoors in sheep and goats
Para-tbc
Check your goats and sheep for para-tbc (paratuberculose). This chronic and incurable intestinal infection can lead to late-stage premature death. Symptoms are not always noticeable. A small ruminant can suffer from diarrhea, but it does not necessarily have to. Testing is therefore a must. We will explain the techniques Lavetan uses to check for these bacteria.
Demonstrating bacteria with antigen test
Lavetan test using the ELISA technique. With this we demonstrate the presence of antibodies against the bacteria and find out whether para-tbc is present in the barn. This control method works for both goats and sheep.
Interested in how we proceed? Discover our approach
What is para-TBC?
Para-TB is an intestinal disease in ruminants caused by the Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis. This bacterium causes a chronic, progressive infection in the small intestine in lambs. Both adult, and young animals can become infected. This happens, for example, by drinking colostrum or milk from an infected goat, sheep or even a cow. Infection also occurs through oral ingestion of the bacteria from the barn environment: manure, bedding or feeders. Vaccination against this disease is also carried out regularly in this sector to reduce the rate of infection.
For the first two years, you hardly notice an infection. After that, more disease symptoms may become obvious: the animal emaciates and milk production drops. Sometimes this is accompanied by watery diarrhea, but it does not necessarily have to be. No treatment is available. The only means to control it is to avoid infecting young animals. This can be done either by testing or culling positive animals, or by vaccination.
