Mycobacterium aviumsubspeciesparatuberculosis –an important food borne pathogen of high public health significance with special reference to India: an update

Abstract

This review underlines the public health significance of 'Indian Bison Type' of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) and also its potential as 'zoonotic infection'. In the absence of control programs, bio-load of MAP is increasing and if we take total population of animals (500 million plus) and human beings (1.23 billion plus) into account, the number of infected animals and human beings will run into millions in India. Our research on screening of over 26,000 domestic livestock for MAP infection using 4 different diagnostic tests (microscopy, culture, ELISA and PCR), during last 31 years has shown that the average bio-load of MAP in the livestock population of India is very high (cattle 43%, buffaloes 36%, goats 23% and sheep 41%). 'Mass screening' of 28,291 human samples between 2008-2016 revealed also high bio-load of MAP. It has been proved that MAP is not in-activated during pasteurization and therefore live bacilli are continuously reaching human population by consumption of even pasteurized milk and other milk products. Live bacilli have also been recovered from meat products and the environment thus illustrating the potential of MAP as pathogen of public health concern. However, at present, there is inadequate scientific evidence to confirm a conclusive link between MAP infection and Johne's disease in ruminants and some cases of Crohn's disease in human beings.

A Defined Antigen Skin Test That Enables Implementation of BCG Vaccination for Control of Bovine Tuberculosis: Proof of Concept

“…The IGRA results from these 3-to 6-month-old cross-bred calves (Jersey X. Zebu) in India to PPD-A and PPD-B at the start of the study (0th week, pre-vaccination) suggest pre-sensitization from high levels of exposure to environmental mycobacteria and pathogenic mycobacteria, including Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis in these geographies (27,28). While in general, due to non-specific IFN-γ production, minimum eligible age for BOVIGAM TM assays is 6 months, the whole blood cells derived from pre-BCG vaccinated calves remained unreactive to DST ( Table 1 and Figure 2) (29).…”

Mycobacterium Avium Paratuberculosis: A Disease Burden on the Dairy Industry

“…Grazing on fecal-contaminated pastures and waterways allows for environmental exposure in herds not housed. Aerosol transmission is also possible as viable MAP has been recovered from air samples and water droplets [ 43 ]. MAP-contaminated aerosols could potentially travel large distances depending on wind and deposit on land or water, subsequently being ingested or inhaled by grazing animals [ 39 ].…”

Proposing BCG Vaccination for Mycobacterium avium ss. paratuberculosis (MAP) Associated Autoimmune Diseases

“…MAP causes a fatal infectious enteritis in ruminant animals called paratuberculosis or Johne's disease. Johne's disease of ruminants and Crohn's disease of humans are increasingly regarded as the same disease: paratuberculosis [40][41][42][43]. Meta-analyses have shown that a majority of studies associating MAP with Crohn's demonstrate MAP infection in Crohn's patients [44,45].…”