A national serosurvey to determine the prevalence of paratuberculosis in cattle in Bhutan following detection of clinical cases

Abstract

Johne's disease is an economically important ruminant disease predominantly affecting cattle, sheep and goats. The economic losses are due to early culling, reduced growth rate, progressive weight loss and reduced production. It is caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP). Johne's disease was reported in cattle in Bhutan, based on clinical signs and histopathology; in the late 1990s samples from one mithun that was suspected to have died due to this disease was confirmed by molecular testing at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, Australia. However, no detailed study on prevalence of JD has been attempted in Bhutan. Objective of this study was to conduct serosurveillance to determine the national prevalence of Johne's disease in cattle for the period 2013–2014 to provide the basis for planning a future control strategy. A national serosurvey was conducted wherein a two‐stage sampling procedure was used with 95% confidence and an error level of ±0.05. The sample size required for the survey was calculated using the software‐Survey Toolbox for Livestock Diseases, available as Epitools at http://www.ausvet.com.au. A total of 1123 serum samples were collected from an administrative structure of 52 villages, 40 sub‐districts and 15 districts. Serum samples were tested using commercially available antibody enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Statistical analysis was performed using GraphPad Prism 5.0. Illustration such as maps was produced using QGIS version 2.18 ‘Las Palmas. The mean national apparent prevalence of Johne's disease was found to be 2.31 (26/1123) (95% CI: 0.80–4.50) with an estimated true prevalence was found to be 8.00 (95% CI: 2.00–17.00). Trongsa district had the highest prevalence (12.96) followed by Zhemgang (4.34), Lhuntse (4.25), Sarpang (3.89), Bumthang (3.60), Trashigang (2.67) and Haa (2.63). Prevalence for all other districts was 2.00 or below. Seropositive samples were reported from all over the country with varying levels of sero‐positivity. In the recent past many more cattle were imported from India to boost dairy production. Nevertheless, the wide distribution of seroreactive JD cattle all over the country is a concern for future control. Therefore, in future, a detailed study on the impact of cattle import with regard to disease incursion such as Johne's disease and other diseases should be undertaken.

Seroprevalence of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in Dairy Cattle in Khartoum State, Sudan.

“…Global prevalence of PTB is high and the disease is well documented in many developed countries, where it causes tremendous economic losses. The prevalence rates of PTB obtained in this study seem to be low compared to that mentioned globally [13,[15][16][17][18].…”

“…Herd level prevalence of up to 75.8% was reported in the Caribbean and Latin America [13]; >50% in Europe and North America [14]; 20.35%-41.7% in Asia [15,16]. Animal level prevalence ranging from 2.31-29.8% was also reported in Asia [15][16][17][18]. In Africa, reports on MAP infections in animals are rather scanty.…”

Seroprevalence and associated risk factors for bovine paratuberculosis in dairy cattle

“…The prevalence of bovine paratuberculosis came in accordance with other previous rate 15% in lower saxony, Germany (Böttcher, 1997). In contrast, the obtained seroprevalence rate was higher than previous rate, 2.4 % in Italy (Lillini et al, 2005), 5.5% in Germany (Donat et al, 2005) and 12.6% in Bhutan, Austria (Gurung et al, 2018) but lower than seroprevalence rate in Austria, 19% (Dreier et al, 2006). The difference of seroprevalence rate in different studies may be attributed to size of sample collected and method of diagnosis (Gurung et al, 2018;Selim et al, 2020a).…”

Comparison of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis infection in cattle, sheep and goats in the Khuzestan Province of Iran: Results of a preliminary survey

“…Also, the MAP infection rate in cattle, in other areas of Iran with different environmental conditions, was reported to be 3.6% to 25% by ELISA, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), culture and Ziehl‐Neelsen staining methods (Anzabi et al., 2005; Anzabi et al., 2009; Ghaemmaghami et al., 2012; Heidarnejhad et al., 2017; Karimi et al., 2012; Khakpoor et al., 2012; Nassiri et al., 2012). The prevalence of MAP infection in cattle, in other countries, has been reported to be 2.31% to 70.4% (Botsaris et al., 2010; Chiodini & van Kruiningen, 1986; Collins et al., 1994; Gurung et al., 2018; Kaur et al., 2011; Lombard et al., 2013; Pillars et al., 2009; Pradhan et al., 2011; Verdugo et al., 2018; Vilar et al., 2015). The MAP infection rate in goats, in some area of Iran, was 37% and 17.3% by PCR and culture methods, respectively (Nemati, 2015), but it was 0.3% to 45.1% in other countries (Dimarelli‐Malli et al., 2009; Dixit et al., 2013; Kumthekar et al., 2013; Lee et al., 2006; Liapi et al., 2011; Martinez Herrera et al., 2012; Mpenda & Buza, 2014; Pithua & Kollias, 2012; Rerkyusuke et al., 2018; Stau et al., 2012; Villari et al., 2009).…”