One is ringworm. It’s not common but we do sometimes see it and it causes generally patchy hair loss on the goat and the reason it can cause problems is that people can get it too. The goat doesn’t get sick with it, but that’s what it can do. Another condition that goats and sheep especially get is something called sore mouth. Sore mouth is exactly what it sounds like. It generally is blisters and sores around the mouth itself and these things get very raw. The goat itself will recovery and usually we do not treat these unless there’s a problem where the goat can’t eat very well, for instance, or something like that then we’ll treat it with medications, but we don’t recommend people rub things on it or things like that because it’s very contagious to people and it really itches if you get it. It will go away, but you won’t feel very good for a while, while you’ve dealt with it. Because everybody’s first inclination when they have a goat or anything with a sore on it, they always try to rub something on it. Well it won’t do any good and what it will do is make sure that you get it. So those are probably the two big things that I would talk about that I think people need to be aware of.

Tammy: Are both of those viruses?

Dr. Noll: Ringworm is a fungus and sore mouth, it has several different names. It’s called sore mouth, it’s called contagious ecthyma, it’s called orf, lot’s of different things it’s called, but it’s a virus.

Tammy: Okay. And the ringworm, is it the same thing that you see in other animals?
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