Are There Zebras?

Every veterinary student learns that when you hear hoofbeats you think of horses and not zebras—in other words, the most likely cause of disease in an animal is the most common one.  The zebras are the unlikely causes of disease and should only be considered after the likely causes have been ruled out.

In most of the United States sheep and goat producers know that pale mucous membranes and bottle jaw signal the presence of a disease-causing load of the barber pole worm, Haemonchus contortus.  But is Haemonchus the only cause of anemia and bottle jaw that you could encounter?  Could there be some zebras?

Read Dr. Anne Zajac's article about potential zebras