<b>By KEVIN WALKER<br>
Michigan Correspondent</b></p><p>

OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. — Four goats from Ottawa County have been confirmed as positive for Scrapie, a disease of the central nervous system that is fatal for sheep and goats.<br>
A fifth goat tested for the disease came up inconclusive.
The Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) made the announcement earlier this month, after a nearly three-month investigation into where the original Scrapie-positive goat had been and whether the animal had ever been in contact with sheep.
This is only the fifth Scrapie-positive goat identified in Michigan since 2000. Scrapie isn’t known to pose any health threat to humans, but it can be spread from goats to sheep and from goat-to-goat.<br>
This latest discovery is significant because there was no sheep-to-goat transmission, said Mark Remick, a veterinarian with the MDA. That’s because goats usually get the disease from sheep, and the disease is known to be endemic in sheep.<br>
Perhaps ironically, the lack of sheep-to-goat contact means Michigan goats no longer meet the requirements to be classified as “low risk commercial” by the USDA. <br>
This could increase the amount of paperwork necessary to move some Michigan goats across state lines. Prior to the finding of Scrapie, certain livestock might not need a health certificate to move across state lines, Remick said. This was never a large number of animals.<br>
“In our state, all animals have to have ID prior to their leaving the farm,” Remick said. “If we were a state that didn’t require the ID, the federal government would require it now.”<br>
For Heather Schroeder, president of the Michigan Boer Goat Assoc. and assistant superintendent for the goat department at the Michigan State Fair, the question of health certificates is a non-issue. She said goat herders in Michigan always had to get a health certificate to move their animals across state lines.<br>
For her, the problem lies in the potential stigma on the industry of having a Scrapie-positive herd.<br>
“A bunch of people are freaking out over the issue,” she said. “It’s just one more thing to kind of worry about, really. It would put a damper on the industry if more goats turn out positive.”<br>
Schroeder, who has 103 goats in Laingsburg, Mich., is also worried about the recent finding of a tuberculosis-positive (TB) deer in Shiawassee County, not far from her ranch. <br>
That area is outside the zone where TB-positive deer are almost always found in the state.<br>
She received a call from the MDA asking if she had any cattle. She doesn’t. “For now, the state is only worried about cattle regarding TB,” she said. “The expense of getting animals tested and retested can weigh on a producer.”<br>
Schroeder also complained that the state compensates producers for goats that are destroyed based on what they would get at an auction for the animal, which is much lower than what a producer can get if it’s sold to another producer or direct to some other buyer.<br>
Remick has been getting many calls regarding the latest finding, and said there is much misinformation out there. Several recent news reports quoted someone who stated the whole herd from where the infected animals came was destroyed, but he said that isn’t accurate; there is a new test that can determine whether an animal is positive for Scrapie, without killing it, he added.
He said the Scrapie-positive goats weren’t put down, either, at least not right away. <br>
The original one from December was euthanized because it was sick and wasn’t responding to treatment, Remick said.<br>
The ones discovered later were taken
to a research facility in Washington state, with the owner’s permission. Two of those later became sick and were euthanized.
The purpose of the research at the facility is to find out more about how Scrapie is transmitted. <br>
Remick also explained Scrapie isn’t transmitted like a cold from animal to animal, and that transmission can only occur when a goat gives birth. When the original goat was taken to a veterinarian, the state was called in, and the federal government ultimately tested the animal. <br>
Later, the other Scrapie-positive goats were discovered by tracing the goat to its birthplace.<br>