Current perspectives on Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis, Johne’s disease, and Crohn’s disease: a Review

Abstract

Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) causes the disease of cattle, Johne’s. The economic impact of this disease includes early culling of infected cattle, reduced milk yield, and weight loss of cattle sold for slaughter. There is a possible link between MAP and Crohn’s disease, a human inflammatory bowel disease. MAP is also a potential human food borne pathogen because it survives current pasteurization treatments. We review the current knowledge of MAP, Johne’s disease and Crohn’s disease and note directions for future work with this organism including rapid and economical detection, effective management plans and preventative measures.

Keywords::

• Johnes,
• Crohns,
• Mycobacterim avium susp. paratuberculosis,
• epidemiology

Acknowledgements

Preparation of this review was supported by a grant from the Arkansas Biosciences Institute to authors Crandall and Ricke.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no declarations of interest.