Preventing disease in sheep and goats

If you suspect that your animals are sick with any of the diseases here, contact your veterinarian or local CFIA animal health office immediately to assess your animals and submit samples to the Animal Health Centre.

Publications are available on the health, nutrition, care and handling of domestic sheep flocks and goat herds.

• Keeping Flocks Healthy: Sheep and Goats (PDF, 5.9 MB)
• National Farm Animal Care Council - Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Sheep
• National Farm Animal Care Council - Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Goats

Resources available through wild sheep conservation organizations to support learning about wild sheep and mountain goats.

• The Wild Sheep Society of British Columbia
• The Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies - Wild Sheep Working Group Initiative

Bluetongue virus

Bluetongue virus (BTV) can infect a variety of wild and domestic ruminants including sheep, cattle, bighorn sheep, and mountain goats but generally only causes severe disease in sheep and occasionally whitetailed deer. BTV does not pose a threat to public health or food safety.

• Bluetongue virus (PDF)

Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae

Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae (M. ovi) is a bacterial species that is commonly found in the nasal cavity and sinuses of apparently healthy domestic sheep and goats.

It is transmitted to wild sheep and goats (bighorn sheep, thinhorn sheep and mountain goats) via nose-to-nose contact and, less commonly, aerosol/droplet transmission. In bighorn sheep, and very likely thinhorn sheep, M. ovi has been associated with large all-aged die-offs due to pneumonia, which is often followed by years of lower lamb birth and survival rates that can have devastating population impacts. 

Interactions between domestic and wild populations can occur throughout the year. These occurrences tend to increase during times of wild sheep rut.

• Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae Fact Sheet (PDF, 364 KB)
• Managing domestic and wild caprinae to limit pathogen transmission risk (PDF, 1.9 MB)

Scrapie

Scrapie is a fatal disease that affects the central nervous system of sheep and goats. It is what is known as a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE). Other TSEs include bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle, chronic wasting disease in deer and elk, and Creutzfelt-Jakob disease in humans.

In Canada, scrapie is a reportable disease under the Health of Animals Act, and all cases must be reported to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

Learn more at CFIA’s webpage.

Sheep and goat pox

Sheep pox and goat pox (SGP) are a group of viruses that cause highly infectious disease in sheep and goats. There is a high mortality rate in susceptible populations of sheep and goats.

In Canada, sheep pox and goat pox are reportable diseases under the Health of Animals Act, and all cases must be reported to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

Learn more at CFIA’s webpage