Goiter in Cross Breed Goat Kids at Basrah Province, Iraq

Cases of Goiter related to iodine deficiency in cross-breed goat kids in Basrah, Iraq are very scarce, and little information has been provided; therefore, the present study highlighted a clinical case of goat kids suffering from Goiter due to iodine deficiency with hematological and biochemical evaluation. The study examined 44 cross-breed goat kids, 1-3 months old (males and females), who showed painless palpable enlargement on one side of the cranio-ventral neck region or near the throat rejoin with weakness and alopecia. Ten clinically healthy kids of the same age were considered a control group. This study's diseased and control group was subjected to complete clinical examinations. Diseased animals show painless palpable and visible enlarged thyroid glands with or without enlargement of the neck, sparse hair coats with little alopecia, slow growth rate, irregular appetite or unwillingness to suck, weakness, and emaciation. Furthermore, the presence of thyroid thrill during palpation of jugular furrow was also detected. Moreover, diseased goat kids show no significant difference in body temperature; however, a significant increase was encountered in respiratory rate with a significant decrease in heart rate. On the other hand, no significant changes have been detected in the hematological analysis between diseased goat kids and the control group concerning the chemical analysis between the diseased cross-breed goat kids and the control group; the results of the present study indicated a significant increase in TSH, whereas, T3, T4, FT4, glucose level, Vit. E (α-tocopherol) and serum glutathione peroxides were lowered in diseased cross-breed goat kids compared with the control group. In contrast, a significant hyper- cholesterolemia was indicated in diseased animals than in the control group. It was concluded that Goiter in kids could reflect harm effects terminated mostly with death. Therefore, improving the maternal diet is an important reason to reduce the development of the disease.