Infectious Keratoconjunctivitis, or more commonly known as pink eye, is a term used to describe a number of diseases that are infecting the animal. If you have ever had to deal with pink eye in any of your animals, you know that it is NOT fun at all. I personally had to deal with it in November (2021), and it lasted for about four weeks. Thankfully, it only spread to four out of the sixteen goats.
Pink eye is a very infectious disease that can easily spread throughout your herd. It is most commonly found in the summer in younger animals but can occur anytime throughout the year and in any age.
In the United States, pink eye is most commonly caused by the microorganisms Chlamydia psittaci ovis and Mycoplasma conjunctivae. The cause can be evaluated by your veterinarian from doing labs on scrapings or swabs of the infection. Depending on the microorganism that caused the pink eye, it can be contagious to humans. If the microorganism that caused the infection is unknown, always be sure to wear proper personal protective equipment (PPE) when handling the infected animal(s).
More than likely (from not only my experience, but others too) your infected goat got it from a newly purchased goat that's infected or picked it up from a show/another animal.
When purchasing a new animal, you want to make sure to quarantine them for AT LEAST two weeks. This helps ensure that the new animal isn't sick or transmitting diseases to the rest of your herd. I also like to tame them down during the two weeks of quarantine!!
The early stages of pink eye in goats are squinting, due to the increasing light sensitivity, and watery eyes. This stage can last for up to several days before moving to the next stage - redness and cloudiness. The last stage is in severe cases where a pit-like ulcer is formed and, if ruptured, can cause the goat to go blind. The ulcer can also spread infection throughout the body making the blood septic, which can be fatal.
There are no current vaccinations for this horrible, nasty bacterial disease, but luckily it can be treated. Pink eye usually lasts between 1-4 weeks, with some severe cases lasting several months. Pink eye usually resolves on its own, but it's always recommended to treat the animal when first symptoms begin.
Some treatments are the following: neosporin (put in infected eye), oxytetracycline ointment (also put in infected eye), injections of tetracycline or liquamiosin (LA-200). Personally, I used LA-200 for my goats and three of the four were over it in less than a week.
Pink eye is very uncomfortable for the infected animal so make sure to pen them somewhere with lots of shade or no sunlight. This disease is very serious and, if not treated early, can be detrimental to your herd. This is why it is VERY important to check your animals daily and if they have any problems, call your veterinarian!
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