I don't have goats but I don't pasteurise my Jersey milk.
jaykay, sokel, Anke & ballingall - we are all lucky enough to live in TB free / low risk areas (although two parishes neighbouring mine are now not TB4
), so the risk to us of drinking raw milk is small. (And in my case, the organic dairy farm next door sells raw milk, so is tested every 12 months - so I figure I'd get an early warning
)
And yes, jaykay, I had BCG jab too, though at Uni, so have assumed that would cover me anyway.
But I have to say, if I were in an area where bTB is rife, I would probably want the piece of mind of a test on the same frequency as my neighbouring farms.
Defra maintain and publish stats on TB testing. In 2013, 6 goats were tested and TB was found in 3 of them. (For sheep it was 35 tested, 3 positive. Alpacas 52 tested, 25 positive; pigs 15 of 64, dogs 1 of 9, cats 16 of 60, deer 11 of 63 (of which 8 positives in 30 wild deer tested.)) Generally species other than cattle only get tested if there is reason for suspicion - so it could be far more widespread than anyone really knows.
The website for looking up the stats is
here.
Defra's current information states
Both sheep and goats are susceptible to TB. There is a risk of transmission to humans if unpasteurised milk or dairy products made from unpasteurised milk from TB infected nannies are consumed. There is no active surveillance for TB in sheep or goats; cases will tend to be identified at post slaughter inspection.
Sheep and goats will be TB tested, at Defra’s expense, if located on premises where TB has been confirmed in cattle (subject to findings of a veterinary risk assessment), or if M. bovis infection has been confirmed in the goat herd itself. Where an owner wishes to tuberculin test their sheep and/or goats in the absence of confirmed M. bovis infection on the premises or in the immediate vicinity, testing may be undertaken privately by the owner’s veterinary surgeon at the owner’s expense. Such testing must, however, be agreed and approved by AHVLA.
Topic: TB Testing goats/ raw milk (Read 8513 times)
