NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The incidence of Johne’s disease in American cattle is probably worse than previously thought.
“This is not a disease we can readily test for and clean up in a herd,” said Michael Carter, a veterinarian with the United States Department of Agriculture who described the level of surveillance to an animal health subcommittee on Jan. 30 during the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association convention in Nashville.
American animal health officials expect the results of a national study on the prevalence of this wasting disease later this year.
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A voluntary bovine Johne’s disease program exists in a number of states. Progress in each state varies from advanced surveillance to minimal activity.
Forty-one states have established advisory councils and about half have control programs.
Most are working on establishing accredited labs capable of diagnosing the disease.
The USDA wants to create disease-reporting procedures similar to what is already used for tuberculosis and brucellosis. This includes consistent reporting and categorization of the incidence of diseases.
Improved lab tests can detect the disease sooner, proving that some beef and dairy herds that appear healthy are shedding the bacteria.
Donald Lein of New York state’s animal diagnostic laboratory said they have been testing for Johne’s since 1985. Today’s improved equipment has found the disease is more prevalent than earlier believed.
The bacteria responsible for Johne’s is difficult to kill and study. Because it is such a stubborn infection, some farms have been caught in a continuous circle of disease, he said.
Canada continues to work on its own national disease control program.
Alberta has established a Johne’s working group that comprises government, ruminant livestock industries and veterinary representatives. It is working on better Johne’s disease research and control programs.
Under the province’s surveillance program, 25 herds have achieved Level one status and are ruled disease free.
Level one status requires 30 randomly selected blood samples from cattle in their second lactation or beyond. All must test negative on ELISA, which is a test for the presence of antibodies, or be confirmed negative by fecal culture at an Alberta Agriculture lab.
This disease has received close attention because of continued debate over the possible connection between Johne’s disease and human Crohn’s disease.
