Bacterial Diseases
Enterotoxemia (pulpy kidney disease)
Signs: Circling, staggering, falling, recumbency, convulsions, sudden death
PM lesion: Soft pulpy kidneys
Treatment: Not effective but oral and parentral antibiotics may be tried
Control: Vaccination; generally annually, 1 month prior to breeding/lambing. Lamb at 10 days of age if both parents aren’t vaccinated or else after 4 months of age.

Classical posture of goat suffering with enterotoxaemia
Anthrax
Signs: Sudden body temperature rise, dyspnoea, bleeding from natural orifices
PM lesions: splenomegaly
Treatment: Pencillins, Oxytetracycline, supportive therapy, anti anthrax serum 50-100ml iv
Control: Anthrax spore vaccine @1ml s/c annually before onset of monsoon
Note: Post-mortem should not be conducted.
Brucellosis
Signs: fever, abortion in late pregnancy, orchitis
Diagnostics: Rose Bengal Precipitation Test, Milk Ring Test
Treatment: No specific treatment, Oxytetracycline has proven to be successful
Control: Brucella cotton-19 strain vaccine annually.
Miscellaneous bacterial diseases
Listeriosis: Circling disease/silage disease, to be differentially diagnosed from gid, thiamine deficiency. For treatment, large doses of Oxytetracycline or Penicillin may help in some cases.
Tetanus: Source: horse dung etc; Signs: stiffness, lock jaw; Prevention: tetanus antitoxin; Treatment: tetanus toxoid, procaine penicillin, muscle relaxants, etc.
Foot rot: Signs: lameness, lifting of foot, loss of weight bearing; Differential diagnosis: nail piercing, any foot injury; Prevention: keep animal in dry place, regular hoof trimming; Treatment: copper sulphate, potassium permanganate foot dips, in case foot is afflicted with pus, use penicillin.

Foot rot lesions
Mastitis: Diagnosis: Strip cup test (under field conditions, reagent for test can be made using 5 spoons of 3% detergent solution + 500ml water), add the milk in reagent, if flakes appear, animal is positive for mastitis. Treatment includes use of broad spectrum antibiotics like enrofloxacin, marbofloxacin, gentamicin, streptopenicillin, etc.
Viral Diseases
PPR (Peste-des-Petites Ruminants)
Signs: erosive stomatitis, high fever, conjuctivitis, bronchopneumonia, shooting diarrhea
Treatment: conservative management with broad-spectrum antibiotics, anti-inflammatory and anti-histaminic drugs, application of glycerin after washing with 1% potassium permanganate solution.
Control: isolation of the affected animal
Prevention: vaccination (Raksha PPR/Bio PPR): 1st dose at 3-6 months of age, repeat annually (literature: after 3 yrs).
Blue tongue
Signs: odema of lips, gums, tongue, cyanosis of tongue, lameness
Treatment: conservative management with broad-spectrum antibiotics
Prevention: Raksha blu vaccine, 1st dose at 3-6 months of age, then repeat annually.
Sheep and goat pox
Signs: pock lesions on whole body, mortality, fever, rhinitis, conjunctivitis and enlargement of all superficial lymph nodes, especially prescapular lymph nodes
Occurrence: Dec-Apr.
Vaccination: prior to occurrence. The vaccination is done every year in healthy sheep of above 3 months of age with Sheep Pox Vaccine.

Goat suffering from pox
FMD (Foot & Mouth Disease)
Signs: vesicles & ulcers in interdigital spaces, lameness
Treatment: Streptopenicilllin, wash with 1% solution of potassium permanganate, apply glycerin on affected areas
Prevention: Raksha FMD every 6 months – Sept/Oct and March/April.
Orf/contagious ecthyma/mawa: Signs: pustular dermatitis, negligible mortality, more prevalent in goats. Prevention: orf vaccine (Mukteshwar strain).
Parasites in sheep and goats
Trematodes
Amphistomiasis
More prevalent in plain areas
Signs: immature flukes are seen which are more pathogenic, mucosal plugs in the faeces (soiled perineal area), foetid/watery diarrhoea, intestinal sloughing leads to putrification and foul smelling diarrhoea.
Treatment: Oxyclozanide, Triclabendazole.
Fascioliasis
More prevalent in hilly areas.
Signs: bottle jaw, hepatitis, jaundice, anorexia, no smelly diarhoea.
Treatment: Triclabendazole, Rafoxanide (for sheep & goat)

Liver flukes
Cestodes
Monieziosis: 90% sheep are positive. Occurrence: spring rise. Treatment: Praziquintal, Fenbendazole.
Nematodes
GIT nematodiosis
Mainly Haemonchosis (sucks 0.05ml blood/day)
Occurrence: spring rise (Feb-March), 28-30 degree celsius, humidity
Acute haemonchosis: animal is normal, cause of immediate death is blood loss, on post-mortem abomasal haemorrhagic bites are seen.
Chronic haemonchosis: signs: pale mucous membrane, bottle jaw, reduced growth, greenish diarrhoea , hypoprotienaemia (economic loss), on post-mortem pale organs, haemorrhagic bites are seen.
Treatment: Albendazole, Fenbendazole, Levamisole
Dictyocaulus/lung worm infestation
10-20% prevalent in plains and 80% in hilly areas
Signs: coughing with husk/hoose sound, fever, eggs in nasal discharge and sputum
Post-mortem: put sheep/goat lung in luke warm water, lung worms can be seen.
Treatment: Levamisole
Coccidiosis
Problem of young ones – leads to high mortality
Signs: Hind limbs soiled with faeces (after 25 days of birth generally).
Differential diagnosis: at 0-15 days from Rotaviral diarrhea and colibacillosis, at 25 days to 2 months generally coccidiosis occur.
Treatment: Amprolium (given in drinking water), Monensin, Lasalocid, Sulphonamides (oral).
Ectoparasites
Flies: Larvae of warble fly infiltrate sub-cutaneous tissue of goats. Warble fly occurrs during spring rise in hilly belts of affecting generally goats. Treatment includes use of ivermectin (sub-cutaneous/pour-on). For prevention, treat all goats with ivermectin.
Mites: Sarcoptes in goats and Psoroptes in sheep – deep burrowing mites. Signs: blackish skin colour. Treatment: Ivermectin (oral -200microgram/kg body weight of animal).
Gid: Cerebrospinal nematodiosis generally seen in goats. Ocurrence – ending of July to October, after rains mosquitos increase. Treatment: Ivermectin 200 microgram/kg during July ending (Treatment of Haemonchus +Prophylaxis of Gid).
Authored By
Dr. Abhinav Thappa
Veterinary Assistant Surgeon, Block Samba,
Department of Sheep Husbandry, Government of Jammu & Kashmir
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This site is really good 👏👏
Loved reading though am just a student majoring in animal health
Our goat is affected by ppr disease
Provide electrolytes, any antibiotic, antipyretic and consult a vet.