[Jacob-list] Atresia ani - congenital defects

[Jacobflock at aol.com]

In a message dated 4/22/2004 12:17:08 PM Central Standard Time, 
stonecroft235 at juno.com writes:

> does atressia ani seem to occur in certain family lines
> of Jacobs?  I know there are some diseases that do seem to follow genetic
> families of Jacobs......or can be traced back to a common denominator,
> namely a shared ancestor.
> 

If I stop shaking I can get the spellling write ... it's atresia ani. Poor 
Karen might be looking for "atressia" and can't find it.  Atresia ani is a known 
genetic defect and I think this report, if so, would be the third West Coast 
case

 ... but that doesn't exclude a viral or bacterial problem during pregnancy.  
How often do we look aty the placenta and cotyledons vs. spots and horns 
during lambing?   Sometimes I can't find it in the fields until the cows and 
buzzards circle ... that's crows ... but we look for each one.

A larger issue:  One of the problems in conserving a rare breed is tempering 
warm and fuzzy feelings of lambing (very natural feeling) with the cold hard 
facts that there are problems and trying to carry out the purpose of 
conservation (and conservation associations), i.e., promote and monitor the gene pool 
and monitor the genetic health of the breed (FAO Conservation Guidelines) and 
yet maintain some element of anonymity for the shepherd's interest.  There is an 
anuual list of confirmed Jacob congenital defects available and the list has 
been available each year since 1999(?).    The evidence and reported number of 
congenital defects suggests that breed conservation and the concerned breeder 
deserve something more than absolute silence.  

If, as I am told, the Jacob is relatively "disease resistant", does it follow 
it should not have  congenital defects? I know a $25 shovel is cheaper than a 
complete pathological exam and no one will know about a problem in a "pure" 
flock.  Wouldn't it be ironic if one of these genetic defects could be traced 
to the earliest imported Jacobs ...  Good news, Doctor Gene has determined this 
is a "true" descendant of the first recoreded impoorted Jacobs,  ....  Bad 
news, Doctor Slaughter's exam shows it has inherited the lethal defect from the 
first recorded imports.

Tornado watch buzzer.  

Fred Horak
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