Natural transmission of Johne's disease to feral goats

Authors: Hamel KL, Weaver AM, Ris DR
Publication: New Zealand Veterinary Journal, Volume 36, Issue 2, pp 98-99, Jun 1988
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

Animal type: Cattle, Goat, Livestock, Production animal, Ruminant, Sheep
Subject Terms: Bacterial, Disease transmission, Epidemiology, Feral animal, Mycobacterial, Wasting disease/disorder, Infectious disease, Disease/defect
Article class: Correspondence

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Abstract: It appears that there are two strains of Mycobacterium paratuberculosis in New Zealand. One strain, which has not yet been cultivated, causes Johne`s disease (JD) in sheep, but there appears to be no evidence that it can infect cattle. The other strain, which is reasonably easy to cultivate, causes JD in dairy cattle and it can infect sheep. It has been shown overseas that JD (presumably caused by strains similar to the New Zealand bovine strain of M. paratuberculosis since they were easily cultivable) can cause serious losses in dairy goats.{+ Nine feral does (yearlings when first introduced) were grazed over a period of three years on four hectares subdivided into six paddocks. The paddocks were rotationally grazed by cattle with clinical JD and by sheep. The goats were bred on this Centre`s Kaitoke farm, where there is no evidence of bovine JD, and they were…

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