I am confused..... does anyone have any thoughts on how accurate the CAE tests really are?? I have heard people getting neg, then pos, then neg. results or one kid being pos and one being neg from the same dam even when raised on prevention........ So when you hear that a herd tested neg. for CAE. How do you know that next time they won't test positive??
I've tested 2x a year apart on my goats who have been 2 -10 years old, both times have been negative... I will be testing again this year as well. Pretty sure it's the type of test used too.... the Elisa is supposed to be the most accurate.
This happens all the time to people, even useing labs that are suppose to be good, like WADDL and Biotracking.
I have heard that vaccinating very close before the test can cause a false positive. Best to test when they haven't been vaccinated or stressed recently. On does if you are unsure it is good to send some colostrum in for testing.
But the question remains.......... if they have tested positive on several goats and then more than one goat tested neg. and then pos. etc. can you assume that someone does indeed have CAE??
I think a colostrum test is supposed to be pretty accurate usually. I know a few years back I had a doe come up borderline. Previously she had tested negative. I got two more negative blood tests over the next year, negatives on two of her kids (who were then adults) that she had dam raised, plus I sent off colostrum when she freshened (negative) before I finally was comfortable that she was indeed negative. And she never actually tested positive. She was right on the cut off for negative/borderline! I just didn't want to take any chances!! So yes, you can get false positives. This particular doe had lost some weight prior to getting the borderline test so I am thinking her body was fighting off something at the time...
If you were to do several tests per goat and they came back neg. you could assume it's neg. though that's not an absolute guarantee. If I were to have one come back pos. I would do at least 2 more tests and see what the results were...making sure there were no vaccinations done or things changed that could effect the test. In your case peggy, I would assume they are pos. but i'd be doing more testing. It's just a very frustrating thing...these tests that can change with each testing. :doh:
You mean I might have just wasted time, energy, and money getting my goats tested?!?! :shocked: I have never heard about this before!
It is frustrating. Especially when you find a nice goat that you want and then the breeders get a lot of flip flop testing.
Hi there, I've heard this positive/negative argument before too.... I run a small herd of Nigerians since 2008, we've tested twice yearly every year since starting on each goat that is over 6 months of age and have 100% negative rate. We have tested thru WADDL. My sister-in-law also runs a medium sized dairy goat herd since 2008, and she tests 1-2x per year and has always been negative. .... So while I do believe there are some false positives, I believe they are fairly rare, and certainly would not cause me to second-guess the need for testing my herd. I would certainly not consider testing your goats as 'wasting money'... there are a WIDE group of people who are looking for only healthy disease free animals, and they will appreciate that you've done testing. :thumb:
