It is entirely possible to buy infected animals and introduce this disease into a previously uninfected herd, because some goats are carriers who never display any symptoms. Listeriosis is brought on by feeding silage, sudden changes in kind of feed, parasitism, dramatic weather changes, and advanced stages of pregnancy. The encephalitic form is most common, causing inflammation of the nerves in the goat's brain stem. Diarrhea is presently only in the strain of Listeriosis which causes abortions and pregnancy toxemia. Listeriosis can be mistaken for rabies.
Immediate treatment is critical.
There is no time to waste with Listeriosis. The exact manner in which both Listeriosis and Goat Polio affect the goat is not well understood at this time. Treatment involves administration of high doses of procaine penicillin every six hours for three to five days, then daily for an additional seven days. Forty-thousand IU per kg of body weight of procaine penicillin is needed to cross the blood brain barrier and put sufficient amounts of the antibiotic into the tissue of the goat's central nervous system. No moldy feed or hay.