1. Johne’s Disease in Cattle Drs. Pepi Leids and Chris Rossiter NYS Division of Animal Industry & NYS College of Veterinary Medicine, Diagnostic Laboratory Modified by the GA Agriculture Education Curriculum Office July 2002

2. Johne’s Clinical Cow

3. “Pipe-stream” Diarrhea

4. Johne’s “Bottle Jaw”

5. What is Johne’s Disease?  Chronic bacterial infection of lower intestinal tract  Caused by Mycobacterium paratuberculosis  Affects all ruminants  Infection takes years to develop  Disease usually occurs in mature animals  Diarrhea, weight loss, reduced production unthrifty, bottle jaw, deterioration, death, but good appetite

6. The Johne’s Bacteria

7. Johne’s

8. Intestinal Disorders

9. What a Johne’s Cow Looks Like  Regardless of how they look, they are a constant source of new infection  95% of infected cows show no signs

10. Costs of Johne’s Disease  Loss of production  Premature culling – the major cost  Reduced salvage value  Lost opportunity for sales/export of genetics  Early costs are invisible  Early control is inexpensive  Costs increase with time and prevalence

11. Johne’s is Everywhere

12. Transmission of Johne’s 1.Manure 2.Milk 3.Colostrum 4.In Utero

13. Who is Susceptible?  All types of ruminants  Youngest are most susceptible  Clinical disease is likely if exposed early  Older are less susceptible…if exposed  Clinical disease less likely; subclinical shedding more common  Age and dose related  Health and genetic predisposition

14. Dose, Shedding, & Clinical Disease # of organisms ingested Incidence of clinical disease

15. Controlling Johne’s – First Principle  Clean and dry  Prevent ingestion of manure by all animals  Particularly the young ones

16. Controlling Johne’s – Second Principle  Identify and remove infectious animals  Monitor suspects Cull ASAP  Manage positives Maternity pen Manure handling Milk & colostrum Offspring?

17. Johne’s Control Strategy Management And Hygiene Test, Cull & Manage

18. Priorities  Maternity Pen  Manure out of Feed  Separating Cows from Calves  Do this by:  Calf management  Sanitation management  Testing/culling

19. Available Tests Fecal Culture  Shedding  Few, mod, many  30 – 50% sensitive  No false positives  $$$ KELA ELISA  Antibody in blood  Risk – number or Low, Mod, ModHigh, High  Stage of disease?  $ Its best to combine the tests

20. Buyer Beware (Testing)  Not reliable in cattle under 2 yrs of age  One negative test in an individual is not a reliable indicator of true infection status  More useful when testing groups of cattle from same source  Most important to test and take preventative measures in your own herd

21. Farm Plan Have a Johne’s plan that fits your farm Farm goals, Management Resources Johne’s Testing Johne’s Good Management