Goiter is iodine deficiency disorder characterised by a non-inflammatory and non-neoplastic enlargement of thyroid gland. In India, cases of goiter have been reported earlier in goats¹². The present communication deals with the occurrence of congenital goiter at an organised goat farm of Madhya Pradesh. During routine post-mortem examination four newly-born dead kids were brought, on different days, to the Department of Veterinary Pathology, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Jabalpur from Goat Unit of Livestock Farm, Adhartal, Jabalpur. History revealed that the unit was maintaining 44 goats of Barberi breed at the farm with semi-free range feeding system. All the adult goats were apparently normal with no sign of thyroid enlargement. The goats at full-term gave birth to kids which died just after parturition. Examination of carcasses of kids revealed bilateral swelling at the larygotracheal junction involving the thyroid gland. The kids were completely devoid of body hair and the subcutaneous gelatinous oedema was noticed in the neck region. The right and left lobes of thyroid glands were 1520 times larger in size, with each lobe measuring on an average 10 cm × 9.5 × 45-cm (Fig. 1). Thyroid glands were brownish-red in colour and soft in consistency. Representative tissue samples were preserved in 10% formal saline for routine histopathological examination. Tissue sections of 4–5 micron thickness were prepared and stained with haematoxylene and eosin.

Microscopically, sections of the thyroid gland revealed marked glandular hyperplasia and proliferation of the epithelial cells of the acini with the presence of pale eosinophilic colloid materials. Cuboidal epithelium, which were hypertrophied and hyperplastic lined the follicles (Fig. 2). The gross and histopathological picture of the enlarged gland suggested that these cases were of a prenatal hyperplastic goiter with no evidence of goiter in dams. Similar findings have been previously reported in kids². The death of kids was evidently due to suffocation resulting from the compressed trachea caused by enlarged glands³. Congenital goiter in kids was earlier attributed to iodine deficiency¹. The present case of goiter might be due to consumption of goitrogenic plants/substances viz., cy no genetic plants, cabbage, soyabeans etc., by the pregnant goats. It has been well documented that ingestion of cabbage and its near relatives in sufficient amount could lead to goiter⁴.

Fig. 1:Goat kids showing bilateral enlargement of thyroid glands.

Fig. 2:Thyroid glands showing proliferation of acinar epithelial cells with pale eosinophilic colloid materials H&E × 400.