The National Institute for Animal Agriculture (NIAA) is offering free copies of a new Johne’s disease prevention and control brochure.
Johne’s disease experts maintain that dairy and beef cows are leaving herds way too fast – before they are tested for Johne’s disease. They note producers who have culled one or more animals for unresponsive chronic diarrhea combined with reduced milk production and thin condition should suspect and test for Johne’s disease.
A 1996 National Animal Health Monitoring Systems study found that dairy herds with a low Johne’s disease clinical cull rate experience an average loss of $40/cow while herds with a high Johne’s disease clinical cull rate have on average a $227/cow loss, with losses resulting from reduced milk production, early culling and poor body condition at culling.
“Johne’s disease is a slow and progressive bacterial disease of the intestinal tract that affects ruminants and is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis,” states Dr. Michael Carter, National Johne’s Disease Control Program Coordinator, National Center for Animal Health Programs, USDA-APHIS-VS. “Infected animals can shed large numbers of the disease-causing bacteria in their feces, leading to contamination of feed and water sources without ever showing clinical signs. Infected animals can also shed the bacteria in their colostrum and milk, and infected dams can pass the disease on to their offspring.”