Systematic review of the prevalence of paratuberculosis in cattle, sheep, and goats in Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract

Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis causes paratuberculosis or Johne's disease (JD) in domestic ruminants and wild species. The aim of the present study was to systematically review the prevalence of paratuberculosis among farmed animals (cattle, sheep, and goats) in Latin America and the Caribbean. The initial search for existing publications reporting systematic reviews and primary studies was carried out by searching the available databases. For the final selection of studies, an initial screen for basic eligibility and a detailed appraisal of quality were performed. After study selection, the relevant data were extracted. The detailed appraisal generated 24 publications that reported 52 studies, of which 73.1, 11.5, and 15.4 % were from cattle, sheep, and goats, respectively. Thirty-three (63.5 %) of the studies were animal level studies, while 19 (36.5 %) were herd-/flock-level studies. No flock-level studies on prevalence in sheep were found. Studies in Latin American and Caribbean countries revealed an overall prevalence of 16.9 (95 % CI (confidence interval) 13.2-20.5) and 75.8 % (95 % CI 50.1-101.5) in cattle at the animal and herd levels, respectively; the prevalence was 16 % (95 % CI 7.9-24.1) in sheep at the animal level and 4.3 % (95 % CI 1.9-6.8) and 3.7 % (95 % CI 0.1-7.4) in goats at the animal and flock levels, respectively. In general, prevalence results reported by the studies were insufficient to accurately determine the prevalence of paratuberculosis in farmed animals in Latin America and the Caribbean. Several flaws in the design of studies limit the quality of evidence regarding the prevalence of paratuberculosis in the region.

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].…”

“…The prevalence of PTB has been reported from different countries, mainly for bovine PTB. 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].…”

Herd-level prevalence and associated risk factors for Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in cattle in the State of Paraíba, Northeastern Brazil

“…For this purpose, the concept of aggregate sensitivity and specificity was used (Dohoo et al, 2003). For the calculations, the following values were adopted: 73.6% (Hendrick et al, 2005) and 98% (Sweeney et al, 1995) for the sensitivity and specificity, respectively, of the test protocol and 37.9% (Fonseca et al, 2000) for the intra-herd estimated prevalence. Herdacc version 3 software (Jordan, 1995) was used during this process, and the sample size was selected so that the herd sensitivity and specificity values would be ≥90%.…”

“…The target condition (Gardner et al, 2011) was a sero-positive animal within an infected herd. The herd-level case definition was based on the size of the population (cows aged ≥24 months), number of females sampled, an intra-herd apparent prevalence of 37.9% (Fonseca et al, 2000), and the sensitivity and specificity of the diagnostic test used (indirect ELISA), with the goal of obtaining a herd sensitivity and specificity of ≥90%. After new simulations using Herdacc software, a herd was deemed positive for the presence of MAP if it included at least one positive animal in herds of up to 24 females, and two positive animals in herds with more than 24 females.…”

Pathways and Genes Associated with Immune Dysfunction in Sheep Paratuberculosis

“…This is an enteric disease of ruminants and an endemic problem for livestock worldwide2345. MAP is an intracellular bacterium, typically infecting macrophages of the small intestine, with severe lesions often occurring in the terminal ileum678.…”