But these animal owners were teenagers, not hardened farmers accustomed to considering the bottom line first. When four animals in the agricultural programs at Heritage Middle School and Pine Ridge High School were exposed to caseous lymphadenitis in December, they were destroyed to prevent the spread of infection.

"Our students understand that as we raise animals, some of them are going to be ill," said Daniel Cox, agricultural programs coordinator for Volusia County Schools. "Some of them are going to pass on."

These animals, a lamb and goat at Heritage and two lambs at Pine Ridge, already had been to the November fair, but weren't sold for slaughter. Cox couldn't say what long-term plans owners had for the animals, and requests for interviews passed through the school district weren't answered.

It's not unusual for goat and lamb owners to choose to euthanize animals infected with caseous lymphadenitis, said Dr. Jack Gaskin, a University of Florida professor specializing in veterinary infectious disease.

Although the infection isn't fatal, its external form causes cysts around the head and neck, which can absess and rupture, spreading the infection. It spreads when animals nuzzle each other and ingest the bacteria, Gaskin said.

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