Goat Testing Lab Options?

MargaretClare

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Hey, I'm looking to have my goats tested for CAE, CL, and Johnes in the next couple weeks and I'm looking for some personal opinions and reviews on labs anyone has used. Last time I tested was April of 2017 and I used Sage Ag Labs then, but I heard that early this year several goat and sheep people in my area got false positives from them. I'm leaning toward URBL but would like to know if anyone has any feedback on them. If you prefer another lab I'd like to hear about them as well. Cost is a concern for me and the reseaon I chose Sage originally was the price.
 

OneFineAcre

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False positives are always a possibility with Johnes (or any ELISA) with any lab. But, they do ELISA's first because they are inexpensive.

I've had a false Johnes positive before, and just did a 2nd test (Acid Fast Stain) which is more expensive and accurate. But, I only had to test the one goat.

What you need to me more concerned with is false negatives with the CL test, which is common. That's why we don't test for CL.
 

rachels.haven

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I used UBRL this round. It worked for me. They were helpful. Not much else to say.
 

MargaretClare

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False positives are always a possibility with Johnes (or any ELISA) with any lab. But, they do ELISA's first because they are inexpensive.

I've had a false Johnes positive before, and just did a 2nd test (Acid Fast Stain) which is more expensive and accurate. But, I only had to test the one goat.

What you need to me more concerned with is false negatives with the CL test, which is common. That's why we don't test for CL.
Thank you, I do realize that both false positives and false negatives are just a fact of life but the amount of people saying they had multiple inaccuracies in a frame of a couple months from Sage made it a little concerning. Is the 2nd test for Johnes you described a fecal or blood test? I am interested in backups tests in case of a positive.
 

Southern by choice

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If you do a Johnes fecal you can go on Johnes.org site and find an accredited lab.
WADDL and UC Davis are both reputable labs. We use our State Lab in NC for Serum Johnes, and CAE... UC DAvis for CL

Another State lab I know of (actually several) have been having issues with whatever type tests they are running. So many positives, suspects and then they end up telling the clients they should send the next round to WADDL.... umm then maybe they shouldn't be running the tests.


As far as testing yes you can get false neg and false positives. With CL we do test and we test annually - every goat. If there were false negatives it certainly would not be on the same goat every single year. It is always a personal choice as to what to test for. Because we are involved in the goat community we see the "we have never had a lump" so we don't test, we also see the "my vet said it is unreliable". We also see people devastated when their goat does end up with a lump, or discovers their hairy buck with something wet under its neck and find out there was a lump under there, it burst and has now infected it's pen mate. The emotional toll is far greater than the financial toll.
First- CL is zoonotic
Second-CL can be internal with no external lumps
Third-You don't have a lump til you have one

We test for us, not for others yet our clients benefit from that.
We are now going to either half the herd and alternate year by year.

CAE-Older does (past age 5) are tested before breeding and again 3 weeks before kidding. There is a higher risk with titers elevating at time of kidding and then dropping back down... so annual testing may not be enough.

WADDL is a very good lab. (UC Davis too)
 

OneFineAcre

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Thank you, I do realize that both false positives and false negatives are just a fact of life but the amount of people saying they had multiple inaccuracies in a frame of a couple months from Sage made it a little concerning. Is the 2nd test for Johnes you described a fecal or blood test? I am interested in backups tests in case of a positive.

The acid fast stain is a blood test.
Better than an ELISA and doesn't take as long as the fecal.
 

OneFineAcre

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Yep,
Never seen a lump and our vet says it's a waste of money because it's unreliable. In fact, 3 vets told us that.
And I know 2 vets that don't test theirs for CL.

Edited to Add:
We have tested for Johnes and CAE for 4 or 5 years now. I don't think we are going to test for that any more either.
 
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Southern by choice

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Yep,
Never seen a lump and our vet says it's a waste of money because it's unreliable. In fact, 3 vets told us that.
And I know 2 vets that don't test theirs for CL.

Edited to Add:
We have tested for Johnes and CAE for 4 or 5 years now. I don't think we are going to test for that any more either.
No CAE?
 

Goat Whisperer

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It is a personal choice.

For me, it is a requirement. I will not consider herds that do not test for the diseases I do. Goats can be costly, I would rather see whole herd, it is not worth the risk- to me.

I would rather go off a possibly faulty test, then to believe an empty word.
There are a lot of great breeders out there who are honest, but there also many who aren't.
There are some who really do not know that there herd is diseased, sell animals, then get a call saying the goat is positive for XYZ. Heartbreak and devastation on both sides, because the seller just did not know. At least when someone is doing whole herd testing, year after year, you get a pretty good idea. At least the breeder has done EVERYTHING they can to ensure the goats are clean. Certainly better than someone saying: my goats don't have lumps, don't have arthritis, or are skinny. <--- Means nothing to me.
Then there is the other side. There are those that will hide and lie about disease.

Unfortunately this happens far too often.

As far as labs, we use Rollins lab (in NC) and UC Davis.
I would look at UC Davis or WADDL, I have only heard good things from these labs. I don't trust Sage Ag
 

MargaretClare

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I'd like to use WADDL but cost is a factor for me and from what I understood they charge like $8 more for non-Washington per sample. I think their non-Washington price was like $24 a sample. If I had high value goats I'd probably use them with no hesitation but I just have a little herd of meat mixes that don't bring in much when I sell the babies around here. I still think testing is the right thing to do but I'm a hobby farmer on a budget.
 

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