Abstract

PINHEIRO, R.R.; GOUVEIA, A.M.G.; ALVES, F.S.F.  and  HADDAD, J.P.A.. Epidemiological aspects of the raising goat in Ceará State, Brazil. Arq. Bras. Med. Vet. Zootec. [online]. 2000, vol.52, n.5, pp. 534-543. ISSN 0102-0935.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0102-09352000000500021.

The development of the goat raising in the Northeastern region of Brazil is hardly affected by several factors, among them, the high incidence of illness. The aim of this study was to assess the adopted sanitary management and the healthy problems according to Ceara’s goat breeders. The work was carried out in many regions of dairy and native goat raising. There were selected 127 properties where a questionnaire was applied. Mean percentage of animals’ mortality was 22.8 and 4.6% for young and adult, respectively. Reported clinical signs were: anemia and dewlap edema (81.9% of the properties), diarrhea (78.7%), abortion (75.6%), foot rot (67.7%), lymphadenitis (66.9%), external parasites (63.8%), mastitis (51.2%), pneumonia (44.9%), goat pox (35.4%), keratoconjunctivitis (29.1%), nervous disorders (26.8%), fetal malformation (15%), cryptorchidism (11%), uterus/vagina prolapsed (11%), arthritis (8.7%), foot and mouth disease (2.4%) and rabies (0.8%). It could be concluded that the goats’ sanitary management of those properties is precarious, independently either the exploitation way or the raising regimen; the animals’ mortality, especially the youngest ones, is considered high; and even in dairy properties there is a lack of rigid worry concerning about hygiene and milk quality.

Keywords : Goat; sanitary management; epidemiology.