Just sharing some info I looked up: http://www.yosemite.org/naturenotes/Giardia.htm "There are three ways that giardiasis, the disease caused by ingesting Giardia cysts, can be contracted: contaminated water, contaminated food, and direct fecal-oral. A person (or sheep) who has just come down with the disease and who wishes to identify the source needs to reflect on not only the possibility of each of these, but in a suspect period ranging from typically one week to four weeks earlier. "
"Contaminated water includes water that has not been boiled, filtered, or disinfected with chemicals. Several community-wide outbreaks of giardiasis have been linked to drinking municipal water or recreational water contaminated with Giardia . In any case, beavers can and do contract giardiasis. Being water-dwellers, they are thus able to contaminate water more directly than an animal that defecates on the ground. Other animals that can harbor Giardia are bighorn sheep, cats, cattle, coyotes, deer, dogs, elk, muskrats, pet rabbits, raccoons, and squirrels. And naturally occurring infections have not been found in most wild animals including badgers, bears, bobcats, ferrets, lynxes, marmots, moose, porcupines, rabbits, and skunks. In the past, horses and domestic sheep were thought to be Giardia-free, but more recent studies have shown that they can sometimes be infected.[12, 12A] , Indeed, in some cases the issue seems to one of degree and not a black-or-white situation. If âItâs everywhere!â why is it not more of a problem? The good news: Most of the time, the concentration of Giardia cysts is very low 1, 6, 8 ......... another site quote: If my water comes from a well, should I have my well water tested? It depends. You should consider having your well water tested if you can answer âyesâ to any of the following questions: Are members of your family or others who use your well water becoming ill? If yes, your well may be the source of infection. Is your well located at the bottom of a hill or is it considered shallow? If so, runoff from rain or flood water may be draining directly into your well causing contamination. Is your well in a rural area where animals graze? Well water can become contaminated with feces if animal waste seepage contaminates the ground water. This can occur if your well has cracked casings, is poorly constructed, or is too shallow. Tests used to specifically identify Giardia are often expensive, difficult, and usually require hundreds of gallons of water to be pumped through a filter. If you answered âyesâ to the above questions, consider generally testing your well for fecal contamination by testing it for the presence of coliforms or E. coli instead of Giardia . Although tests for fecal coliforms or E. coli do not specifically tell you whether Giardia is present, these tests will show whether your well water has been contaminated by fecal matter. " =============================================== This message is from the Blackbelly Sheep mailing list (http://www.awrittenword.com/listserv/index.html). To respond to this message, send e-mail to [email protected] To unsubscribe or change your membership options, go to http://lists.coyotenet.net/mailman/listinfo/blackbelly To search the archives, go to http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
