A review of bovine Johne's disease control activities in 6 endemically infected countries

Abstract

Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) is endemic in the bovine populations of many countries and can cause a significant reduction in animal welfare and production efficiency making control desirable. Effective control has proved very difficult to achieve despite multiple regionally coordinated programmes being in existence since the 1920s. The international community increasingly recognises the value in learning from the collective experiences of existing programmes to improve the effectiveness of control. The aim of this review is to outline key aspects of bovine Johne's disease control activities across 6 endemically infected countries to facilitate comparison of current international practice. The background, control activities and monitoring components of programmes in Australia, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States of America were individually reviewed. Factual accuracy of each review was checked by individuals involved in the respective programmes before the reviews were condensed and combined into a single document presented here, with the complete reviews of each programme available as supplementary material. There was considerable heterogeneity in key aspects of control activity design including goals, responses to declining participation, herd classification, recommended control measures and associated test requirements. The data presented will be of interest to organisations that are involved in developing new or existing regionally coordinated BJD control activities.

Invited review: The economic impact and control of paratuberculosis in cattle

“…In the Netherlands, herds can obtain "MAP-free" status, although the use of the term "MAP-free" has been questioned and the alternative term "low-risk" has been proposed (Benedictus et al, 1999;Weber et al, 2004;Groenendaal, 2005). Geraghty et al (2014) conducted a review of bovine paratuberculosis control programs in 6 endemically infected countries (Australia, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and United States) looking at control programs' components, monitoring, and program evaluations. Significant heterogeneity was observed between the control programs.…”

Prevalence and Pathology of Paratuberculosis in Cattle and Buffaloes at Faisalabad Abattoir

“…The disease adversely effects the productive and reproductive performance of the animals i.e., decrease milk production, increase cull rate, decrease in animal fertility and constant spread of organism. Many developed countries have started efficient control and eradication program to decrease the disease prevalence rate (Geraghty et al, 2014). As the organism has prolong incubationperiod, it disturbs the productive efficiency and the animals remain infected sub clinically (Gregor et al, 2015).…”

Evaluation of testing strategies to identify infected animals at a single round of testing within dairy herds known to be infected with Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis

“…Risk factors for within-herd transmission are increasingly understood (Doré et al, 2012), and clear recommendations are available for both beef and dairy herds to prevent exposure of susceptible animals to MAP (Garry, 2011;Roussel, 2011). A broad range of control options are being applied internationally, with some differences between countries (Geraghty et al, 2014).…”