Small ruminants such as goats and sheep are relatively common laboratory animal models. These species are frequently used at US veterinary colleges as anatomic specimens for providing instruction to first-year students. The College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Georgia routinely uses preserved goat specimens to teach ruminant anatomy.

The University acquired four adult goats (two female, two male) for use as anatomy specimens from a nearby barn auction through a third-party broker. The animals arrived on a Monday and were scheduled for euthanasia and tissue preservation the following week in accordance with a protocol approved by the University of Georgia Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. Shortly after the animals' arrival, husbandry staff notified the attending laboratory animal veterinarian and an internal medicine veterinarian that one of the female goats had a swollen and discolored teat.

On clinical examination, the nanny goat was bright, alert and responsive; she was in good body condition and had an adequate appetite. Examination of the affected teat revealed moderate swelling and dark, erythematous discoloration with multiple vesicular lesions. Examination of the goat's head showed four or five raised, crusted, proliferative lesions measuring 1–2 cm at the oral mucocutaneous junction (Fig. 1). Clinical examination of the other three goats showed that a second, male goat had similar oral lesions to those of the nanny goat.

Figure 1
figure 1

An adult female goat's head with multiple raised, crusted and proliferative lesions measuring 1–2 cm on and around the lips.

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The veterinarians attending the case euthanized the two affected goats with pentobarbital overdose. They took fresh skin sections measuring 1 cm in diameter from the mouths of both animals and submitted samples of both formalin-fixed and frozen tissue to the Athens Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory of the University of Georgia.

Based on the signalment, clinical history and gross appearance of the lesions, what is the etiology of the disease? What is the common name of this condition? Does it affect species other than goats? How would you manage it? Is it zoonotic?

What's your diagnosis?