# Goats passing parasites through milk?



## MaddieLynn (Nov 23, 2011)

I just saw where someone in the pig forum is claiming that if you feed pigs milk from a goat that hasn't been wormed well the goat will pass parasites to the pig. This seemed a little fishy to me. Can anyone confirm or deny this?


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## ani's ark (May 12, 2012)

I'll be waiting on others answers, but at a guess I'd also say it sounds unlikely...


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## KrisD (May 26, 2011)

What??! Hog wash!


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## CJBegins (Nov 20, 2009)

If it could happen to pigs then it could happen to people and well.....I don't think so!


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## Rockytopsis (Dec 29, 2007)

The only way I know of is if a nanny berry fell into the pail and the pig ate the nanny berry.

Nancy Brown


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

What Rockytopsis said.

Good grief. What prevarications people tell.


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## Minelson (Oct 16, 2007)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> What Rockytopsis said.
> 
> Good grief. What prevarications people tell.


That's a big word Alice...I had to google it


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## The Tin Mom (Dec 30, 2008)

KrisD said:


> What??! Hog wash!





Rockytopsis said:


> The only way I know of is if a nanny berry fell into the pail and the pig ate the nanny berry.
> 
> Nancy Brown





Alice In TX/MO said:


> What Rockytopsis said.
> 
> Good grief. What prevarications people tell.





Minelson said:


> That's a big word Alice...I had to google it


ROFLOL! :rotfl:

What they said! 

You all make me laugh! Thanks!


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## mrs.H (Mar 6, 2003)

I would certainly need a good worming if this were true! Maybe I should get a fecal done...


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## The Tin Mom (Dec 30, 2008)

mrs.H said:


> I would certainly need a good worming if this were true! Maybe I should get a fecal done...


:rotfl:


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## CaliannG (Apr 29, 2005)

Ahhhh, more myths!

MaddieLynn, you can go back and tell them that intestinal worms live in the INTESTINES. NOT in the mammary glands. Things like roundworms, barberpole worms, etc., etc., go through the intestinal tract, and there is no way for said parasites, or even parasite eggs, to get into the bloodstream and infest the mammary glands.

I am sure that someone, somewhere is going to say that they fed their pigs goat milk and said pigs got intestinal worms from it. The ONLY way that could happen is if they were feeding goat-berry infested milk. (which sometimes happens, when a goat slams a hoof in the bucket  )

Even then, you'd just treat the parasites like you do everything else. Pigs need to have regular worming also. 

~shakes her head~ People!


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## Cannon_Farms (Aug 28, 2008)

yep, all of us that drink and use raw milk sure are going to worry more about a pig getting worms than ourselves.
think about a pigs life, always in the dirt even eating fecal matter one would think the milk would be the least of the causes of parasites in pigs.


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## lexa (Mar 30, 2012)

I have never heard about humans getting worms from raw milk but puppies and kittens can get hookworms through mothers milk in their first week of life.


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## Cannon_Farms (Aug 28, 2008)

Here is how dogs get worms and other creatures. Worms and eggs are expelled through the feces, creature steps where its pooed be it then or when ever (or even licking of the rectum then paws) the parasite is then transferred to nesting area via feet or hooves creature lays in said area and then the teats are exposed to the parasite and then the life cycle starts when the young latch onto the teats. 
So yes, we can get worms from milk but we also thankfully have enough common sense to wash the udders well.


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## Rockytopsis (Dec 29, 2007)

Sorry 

Nancy


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## lexa (Mar 30, 2012)

*Trans-mammary transmission is not a myth, it is a scientific fact. It has nothing to do with ingestion of fecal matter or parasite eggs from dirty tits or hygiene of the nest*. The larva is passed through the mammary glands with milk. It is one of the common ways of parasite transmittion among mammals. Adult worms do live in the intestines but their larva goes through several stages in which they migrate and occupy different organs of the host, mammary glands included. 
I found this article that talks about a genus of nematodes (roundworms) Strongyloides spp, that are transmitted trans-mammary. . Strongyloides spp. Both pigs and goats get them, however pigs and ruminants have different species that infect them 
I even tried to do a search using one of the species names + goats and pigs. I could not find any reference to cross species infections. Since both species look like generic roundworms, it would be easy to assume that they are the same worms and that pigs got them from goats. In reality they have their own, which they got from ether environment or their own mothers milk. So I guess, we should not worry about it. From the above article: &#8220;Where investigated, most species appear to be able to infect one, or at most a very few, host species. Indeed, in many cases the specific designation may have been attributed largely by the host species in which the parasite was found. This degree of host-species specificity is not unusual among animal parasitic nematodes.&#8221;


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Here's the specific paragraph from the above referenced article:
Hypobiosis or dormancy of Strongyloides L3s may or may not be central to the maintenance of chronic infections, but it is key to another mode of transmission: transmammary transmission. There is evidence of transmammary transmission in S. ratti and S. venezuelensis in rats (Nolan and Katz, 1981; Kawanabe et al., 1988), S. stercoralis in dogs (Shoop et al., 2002), S. fuelleborni kellyi in humans (Ashford et al., 1992) and several species affecting livestock including S. ransomi in swine (Stewart et al., 1976), S. westeri in horses (Lyons, 1994) and S. papillosus in ruminants (Moncol and Grice, 1974). Infective L3s transmitted by the transmammary route presumably arrest their development and migration in the mammary glands, and then re-activate at lactation. Transmammary transmission also occurs in other parasitic nematodes that have a phase of within-host tissue migration during their life cycles, including ascarid roundworms and hookworms (Shoop and Corkum, 1987; Stone and Smith,1973).


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## lexa (Mar 30, 2012)

Thanks, At first I wrote a long post with reference but lost it to lost connection and forgot to include it again.


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## Narnia75 (May 16, 2015)

lexa said:


> *Trans-mammary transmission is not a myth, it is a scientific fact. It has nothing to do with ingestion of fecal matter or parasite eggs from dirty tits or hygiene of the nest*. The larva is passed through the mammary glands with milk. It is one of the common ways of parasite transmittion among mammals. Adult worms do live in the intestines but their larva goes through several stages in which they migrate and occupy different organs of the host, mammary glands included.
> I found this article that talks about a genus of nematodes (roundworms) Strongyloides spp, that are transmitted trans-mammary. . Strongyloides spp. Both pigs and goats get them, however pigs and ruminants have different species that infect them
> I even tried to do a search using one of the species names + goats and pigs. I could not find any reference to cross species infections. Since both species look like generic roundworms, it would be easy to assume that they are the same worms and that pigs got them from goats. In reality they have their own, which they got from ether environment or their own mothers milk. So I guess, we should not worry about it. From the above article: âWhere investigated, most species appear to be able to infect one, or at most a very few, host species. Indeed, in many cases the specific designation may have been attributed largely by the host species in which the parasite was found. This degree of host-species specificity is not unusual among animal parasitic nematodes.â





Alice In TX/MO said:


> Here's the specific paragraph from the above referenced article:
> Hypobiosis or dormancy of Strongyloides L3s may or may not be central to the maintenance of chronic infections, but it is key to another mode of transmission: transmammary transmission. There is evidence of transmammary transmission in S. ratti and S. venezuelensis in rats (Nolan and Katz, 1981; Kawanabe et al., 1988), S. stercoralis in dogs (Shoop et al., 2002), S. fuelleborni kellyi in humans (Ashford et al., 1992) and several species affecting livestock including S. ransomi in swine (Stewart et al., 1976), S. westeri in horses (Lyons, 1994) and S. papillosus in ruminants (Moncol and Grice, 1974). Infective L3s transmitted by the transmammary route presumably arrest their development and migration in the mammary glands, and then re-activate at lactation. Transmammary transmission also occurs in other parasitic nematodes that have a phase of within-host tissue migration during their life cycles, including ascarid roundworms and hookworms (Shoop and Corkum, 1987; Stone and Smith,1973).


Are any of these worm species from goats transmittable to humans through drinking the raw milk?


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## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

It has never come up as a large problem/concern in all my years of raising and study. 

As said above, Strongyloides sp can be transmitted through skin, milk etc. The host for most parasites are often pretty specific. A few species of strongyloides infect humans. Most infections are mild, but can be severe. Your risk is higher when immunocompromised/suppressed, and may lend to you be susceptible to species that are otherwise non-pathogenic - I can't say for sure. 

http://parasite.org.au/para-site/text/strongyloides-text.html

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/p...ic_diseases.html?qt=zoonotic parasites&alt=sh

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/d...ointestinal_parasites_of_sheep_and_goats.html

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/d..._gastrointestinal_parasites_of_ruminants.html


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