Studies on Johne’s disease in Sheep and Goats

Paratuberculosis (Johne's disease) is a chronic bacterial disease of global importance in mainly domestic and wild ruminants, caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP). The disease causes serious economic losses to the sheep farmers in the form of reduced body weight gain, culling and poor quality and quantity of wool. There is plenty of literature on the epidemiology of Johne's disease in tropical region of India. However, knowledge on the prevalence of this disease in sheep and goats in Kashmir is limited both due to lack of testing and reporting. The agroclimatic conditions of Kashmir Valley are different from the tropical mainland of India and hence there are high chances of different epidemiology of the disease in this region. The estimation of sero-prevalence and risk factor analysis of MAP in Kashmir valley will set up a basis for establishing control measures against this disease. In this study 292 animals (240 sheep and 52 goats) were screened for seroprevalence of MAP. The seroprevalence was estimated on the basis of antibody titer against MAP in serum. The blood samples were aseptically collected by jugular vein- puncture in clot activator vials.