Enterotoxaemia in goats-A review of current knowledge

Enterotoxaemia is a devastating disease of sheep and goats throughout the world. Though there are significant differences between caprine and ovine enterotoxaemia, documentations and research specifically to the condition in goats are scanty. Clostridium perfringens type D, C and B are the main organisms involved in caprine enterotoxaemia while pathological role of type A is equivocal. Epsilon toxin is considered to be the principal toxin involved although potential effects of other toxins are unknown. Peracute form of enterotoxaemia with sudden death is more common in kids. The distinctive characteristics in goats mainly include presence of four clinical forms ranging from peracute to chronic, clinical prominence of diarrhoea, presence of severe enterocolitis and the rarity of brain lesions at necropsy and frequent failure of current vaccination strategy. A possible explanation for these differences is that epsilon toxin is less promptly absorbed by goat than sheep intestine due to a caprine-specific response of the intestinal tract resulting in less systemic effects of toxins. The poor efficacy of current vaccination may be due to the fact that moderate to high serum levels of specific antibody are needed to protect against both the systemic and the intestinal effects since the enteric form of the disease is partially independent of circulating antitoxin. But the reasons for differences require further investigation. At the same time these unique aspects must be considered for the diagnosis, treatment, prevention and development of more efficient control measures of caprine enterotoxaemia.