Crohn’s-Johne’s
(Continued from Page ASS)
potential for an enormous
impact on human health due to
the prevalence of this organism
on the farm and in water. Fur
ther study of MAP as a food
and/or waterborne pathogen
should be conducted. Viable
MAP should be sought in com
mercial milk and other dairy
products as well as in meat.
Conclusive studies of the effec
tiveness of pasteurization using
commercial equipment and pro
cess rather than laboratory
simulations should be per
formed. In order to conduct the
above, standard methods for the
concentration, detection, and in
vitro culture of Map should be
developed and used by partici
pating researchers. Federal
agencies with regulatory author
ity over the food supply should
consider conducting such re
search in cooperation with rele
vant food production industries
and academic researchers.
Dr. Robert Whitlock, profes
sor of the school of veterinary
medicine at the University of
Pennsylvania New Bolton
Center, spoke about Johne’s dis
ease in cattle and how important
control efforts are.
When asked about the possi
ble connections of drinking raw,
unpasteurized milk, Whitlock
noted that he drank it as a child
himself. But for those who drink
it, the risk of getting Crohn’s is
“very, very, very small.”
Also, the bacterium will not
survive the pilot commercial
pasteurization methods with
their short-term, high tempera
tures, Whitlock noted.
However, dairy producers
must learn to focus more on
eradication programs, including
culling the older, higher
shedding animals first and ere
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Connection: Scientists Look Into Controversy, Herd Control Options
ating a program that is
economically viable to protect
the more valuable young stock.
Johne’s is a chronic bacterial
infection that begins in the
young calf and can take a long
time as long as 10 years to
be clinically evident. But most
animals on the farm that have it
“don’t show any clinical signs,”
Whitlock said.
Usually if the herd animal
identified at the top is shedding
and has clinic signs, there could
be 15-20 animals infected that
aren’t showing any clinical
signs. They look “perfectly
normal,” he said.
Also, cows in the summertime
cooling off in a farm stream or
pond can infect other cows read
ily.
Other animals, including
dairy goats and deer are even
more susceptible to it. Whitlock
pointed out a Bison herd in
Montana that had a high level of
infection about 25 percent of
the total herd of 3,400.
One infected dairy cow could
be shedding a billion organisms
of the Johne’s bacterium a day.
And that could amount to huge
herd losses. If sold as meat,
about 115 pounds difference in
body weight could result, or
about a $45 per cow loss. In
terms of milk loss, cows could
lose about 3,000 pounds per year
for a loss of about $386 per cow.
Those can add up. On a 100-
cow herd, that could total a loss
of $22,700 per year. Overall,
Johne’s spells a $2OO million a
year loss to the dairy industry.
And the public perception of
Johne’s could spell real prob
lems for the dairy industry.
Whitlock pointed out a book by
Robert Cohen, who has a doc
torate in nutrition, according to
the New Bolton Center vet pro
fessor. The book, “Milk: The
- The Bottom Line - More Profit -
Deadly Poison,” makes claims
that could create real problems
with the public’s perception of
the industry.
In Lancaster and Chester
counties alone, some believe up
to 50 percent of the dairy herds
are infected. There are 670,000
dairy cattle in the state, and
Whitlock noted that 50,000 of
those cattle may have Johne’s.
And other states are no better.
Whitlock noted that one official
noted that in California, Johne’s
is present in all herds.
Before too long, it may
become feasible and profitable
for dairies to sign up and
become Johne’s certified free. In
the future, milk could be mar
keted that way.
In recent Pennsylvania state
budget hearings, there was a rec
ommended doubling of appro
priations for state Johne’s
testing, according to Sam Hayes
Jr., state secretary of agricul
ture. The Pennsylvania Johne’s
Disease Program is a coopera
tive effort involving the Pennsyl
vania Department of
Agriculture, Penn State, Univer
sity of Pennsylvania, USDA,
and the state cattle industry. For
more information, call (717)
783-5301.
In June, it is expected to be of
ficially announced that Pennsyl
vania has achieved bovine
tuberculosis-free status. And
Pennsylvania could also be
going into Stage V in the swine
pseudorabies eradication effort
and perhaps be pseudorabies
free by June of 2001, noted
Hayes.
It may be important in the
future to adapt the principles of
the Pennsylvania Egg Quality
Assurance Program, or PEQAP,
to the dairy beef industry in the
state, according to Hayes.
In the meantime, working
closely to obtain a certified
Johne’s-free dairy herd could be
critical and provide very valu
able information for dairy mar
keting, according to Dave
Galligan, section chief of animal
health, economics, and nutrition
at the School of Veterinary Med
icine at New Bolton Center.
Meanwhile, better, more accu
rate tests are needed to control
errors and false Johne’s identifi
cation tests. Improved testing
More coverage of the symposium in next week’s
issue.
‘Bioterrorism ’ Growing
Concern in Public
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Fanning Staff
GRANTVILLE (Dauphin
Co.) U.S. borders are quite
porous, noted a leading expert
on “bioterrorism,” and disease
affecting crops and livestock can
move in through a variety of
ways.
Corrie Brown, professor and
head of the Department of Pa
thology of the College of Veteri-
nary Medicine at the University
of Georgia, told about 180 edu
cators, legislators, and agri- in
dustry representatives that
known biological terrorism has
even been perpetrated on
humans.
Brown, who spoke Thursday
morning during the Pennsylva
nia Agriculture In the 21st Cen
tury Symposium on
Profitability, pointed to a case in
which a disgruntled worker in
1996 in Dallas, Texas injected
shigellosis into jelly donuts at a
company party. The pathogen
put 12 people in the hospital and
HOGS P °^r %
CONSTRUCTION EXPERTS
Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, March 11, 2000-A37
and eradication efforts can help
stop the huge losses accrued by
culling cattle too early. A heifer
early removal program or sepa
rate heifer purchasing program
(contract rearing) could keep
the disease out of the critical
young herds.
To control Johne’s, it is im
portant to segregate the young
stock quickly, use milk replacer,
and cull infected animals.
Perception
45 people became sick.
Bioterrorism can even be used
by the right people for the wrong
reasons. Brown pointed out that
in 1997, a virus was introduced
into the rodent rabbit popula
tion in New Zealand to control
them.
If something like that hap-
pens in New Zealand, said
Brown, it “could happen any
where,” she said.
There are six billion people in
the world generating a “tremen
dous amount of traffic,” she
said, bringing new plant and
animal diseases into areas where
tjiey didn’t exist before. In one
case, some raccoon hunters
picked up 500 raccoons from the
Southeast into West Virginia, all
perfectly legal at the time across
state borders, not knowing some
of them were rabid. As a result,
the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast
states have an unprecedented
problem with rabid animals.
(Turn to Page A 43)