Posted by GoatWorld on December 17, 2000 at 19:26:56:
In Reply to: pnemonia posted by susan on December 17, 2000 at 15:12:38:
Hello Susan,
Please keep in mind that I'm not a doctor nor a vet but I do not believe pneumonia is communicable between animals. Since there are several different types of pneumonia, this may not be the case between each one.
I would think it works in the same manner as it does in humans whereas the virus enters the body and is immediately resisted by antibodies. In other words, just as with coccidiosis, there are perhaps always a few "bad bacteria" present but the antibody level is high enough to counteract them.
Given certain conditions such as weather, overall health, nutrition, etc, the antibody levels may fall in order to fight "other" bad bacteria and infections, allowing more "bad bacteria" to muliply at a rate faster than the antibodies can respond.
I know for the most part in humans, one does not simply catch pneumonia (of common type). You must have a cold first which left untreated, will turn into pneumonia.
Hope I'm fairly accurate on this assessment. Will be interesting to see what others say as well.
Best regards,
Gary Pfalzbot