31/21 - Polioencephalomalacia (Goat Polio)

Thought I'd do a blog post about Goat Polio.  I got my info from http://www.tennesseemeatgoats.com/articles2/listeriosis.html.  It's a very good website to go to if you want some good information.

 Polioencephalomalacia also known as Goat Polio, is a disease that often has the same symptoms as a brain-stem diseases such as Listeriosis (Listeria monocytogenes).  Most of the time, both diseases are found when goats are raised under intensive management conditions.  Not feeding properly, which can include  feeding too much grain and too little hay, is significant in both diseases.  Making the goat gain weight too fast increases the risk of them getting these potentially fatal diseases.  Sudden changes in feed will also increase their risk.

 

Goat Polio is most often caused by a Thiamine (Vitamin B 1) deficiency.  Any change in the rumen's environment that withholds the normal bacterial function can interfere with thiamine production.  Feeding too much grain can lower the pH in the rumen, making the goat susceptible to Polio.  Glucose cannot be metabolized without thiamine.   If thiamine is either not present, or exists in an altered form (thiaminase), then brain cells die and severe neurological symptoms appear.

 

Causes of this deficiency include: feeding moldy hay or grain, using amprollium which is a thiamine inhibitor (brand name CoRid) when treating coccodiosis, feeding grains that contain molasses which is prone to having mold on it such as horse & mule feed, eating some species of ferns, changing the animals' diet rapidly, the dietary stress of weaning, and reactions to the de-wormers thiabendazole and levamisole.  

 

Goat Polio can include any of the following symptoms: excitability, "stargazing," uncoordinated staggering and/or weaving (ataxia), circling, diarrhea, muscle tremors, and blindness. Initial symptoms can look like Entertoxemia (overeating disease). There is a component of "overeating" involved in that the rumen flora has been compromised. As the disease progresses, convulsions and high fever occur, and if untreated, the goat generally dies within 24-72 hours.

 

Summary: To try to avoid this disease, decrease grain, increase roughage, avoid moldy hay and grain, and don't use feed that is susceptible to mold (molasses-based/textured feeds). Complete avoidance of Goat Polio is impossible. After doing everything "right," you might still have a goat contract Goat Polio occasionally.

Thiamine is the only effective therapy, and treatment can result in improvement within a few hours if the disease is caught early enough.

 

Thanks for reading!

~Arael