A decade of disease surveillance in Angora goats

For more than a decade, Mohair South Africa has been operating a disease surveillance system that has revealed valuable trends and uncovered notable health conditions in Angora goats. This surveillance plays a critical role in supporting the Angora industry by strengthening biosecurity through the monitoring of disease trends and causes of mortality at both farm and industry levels; enabling timely communication of disease outbreaks to producers; and promoting improved animal health, welfare, and productivity across the sector.

- By Dr Mackie Hobson, veterinarian, Mohair South Africa

Over the past ten years, three major conditions have accounted for 80,8% of diagnosed disease-related mortalities:

• Clostridial diseases (23,9%), including pulpy kidney, necrotic enteritis, haemorrhagic enteritis, malignant oedema, braxy, and tetanus.

• Internal parasites (34,3%), of which 21,6% were roundworm infections and 12,7% coccidiosis.

• Pneumonia (22,6%).

Clostridial infections

Thanks to increased awareness of Clostridium-related diseases and the widespread use of multi-clostridial vaccines, fatalities linked to clostridial diseases have shown a downward trend over the past decade (Figure 1).

The main contributors are Clostridium perfringens types A (redgut), C (necrotic enteritis), and D (pulpy kidney). It is important to note that these bacterial types each produce multiple toxins with overlapping effects. Collectively, they are often grouped under the term enterotoxaemia – and this is where multi-clostridial vaccines have proven their worth.

In contrast, tetanus and infections caused by Clostridium septicum (malignant oedema and braxy) account for very few cases. Goats also show higher resistance to Clostridium chauvoei (blackquarter), which is rarely diagnosed in the species.

Parasite susceptibility risk

The Angora goat industry continues to face its greatest challenge: poor resistance to internal parasites. Angoras are primarily browsers, and years of selection for fine fibre (which correlates negatively with roundworm resistance) have contributed to their vulnerability.