The Irish Johne’s Control Programme (IJCP) together with Animal Health Ireland (AHI) is developing a long-term programme to control Johne’s disease within the Irish cattle industry. The disease which causes diarrhoea and wasting in cattle is caused by the bacterum Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) which affects the gut of cattle, and can easily spread from one animal to the next.
Symptoms of the disease often go undetected until it is too late. It’s suggested that infected cows should be marked for culling, while cows who are in-calf due in coming months, should not have their colostrum fed to calves as their milk will be contaminated. The AHI says cattle usually become infected as calves early in life by drinking milk or eating food contaminated with bacteria, which are shed in dung or milk of infected adult cattle.
Control measures have since been developed in order to assist with the management of the disease. They are as follows:
- Regular screening of your herd for the disease
- Culling positive or inconclusive cows from the herd
- Feed calves colostrum from negative cows
- Maintain high levels of hygiene in calving pens and calf shed
- Avoiding buying in stock from herds that are known to have Johne’s disease
Johne’s disease is often not detected on farms until it is too late. Although animals become infected at a young age. By the time it is detected is it possible that the disease has been spread to other animals within the herd. Regular screening of your herd is the best way to detect the presence of MAP bacteria within your herd.
LSL News.