Bacteriology
The role of wildlife in the epidemiology of Mycobacterium
avium subspecies Paratuberculosis in domestic ruminants
in Europe
Stevenson, K
Paratuberculosis (Johne's disease) is a fatal chronic enteritis principally of ruminants caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis. The disease is endemic and responsible for significant economic losses through lost productivity, infertility and susceptibility to disease, lost export markets and direct expenditure on diagnosis and control. Animals become infected soon after birth through the ingestion of food contaminated with the organism. There is a long incubation period of two to four years before clinical signs of disease develop. Paratuberculosis is a difficult disease to diagnose, particularly in sheep and subclinical carriers. The diagnostic tests used are not specific for M.a.paratuberculosis and there is no single diagnostic test that will detect all stages of the disease. Current control programmes rely on detecting and culling diseased animals, however, such an approach is economically unacceptable for low value animals, such as sheep or goats, or where endemic disease or reservoirs of infection prevail. Research by the Pathogenic Mycobacteria group at MRI and the Scottish Agricultural College has revealed M.a.paratuberculosis infection of various wildlife species on farms with paratuberculosis in livestock, highlighting a real potential for wildlife reservoirs. Vaccination offers a more acceptable alternative approach to control in these situations.
This European Commission funded project is in collaboration with the Scottish Agricultural College (UK), University of Thessaly (Greece), Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain), ID-Lelystad (Netherlands), Veterinary Research Institute (Czech Republic), National Reference Centre for Agriculture (Netherlands) and National Beef Association (UK).
The objectives of this project are to identify