Farming: Seeking the invisible

With its ability to conceal symptoms for a number of years and for allowing the infected animals go into periods of remission, Johne’s disease has been called the “invisible” disease, despite a recent survey suggesting that two thirds of all dairy herds in the country have some level of Johne’s infection.

When it does show clinical signs in cattle, this bacterial disease initially causes diarrhoea, and loss of condition and then as the disease progresses loss of fertility and finally reduced slaughter value.

Yesterday at a meeting in Brechin, the team behind Spirit Project - which aims to improve knowledge of the disease – said that one of the findings so far was the need to blood test livestock more regularly than before.

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They admitted that neither the blood nor milk test could give totally accurate results but only by trying to identify those animals with the disease could progress be made.

Professor George Gunn, from the Scottish Agricultural College epidemiology department, said that the strongest message to farmers with Johne’s in their cattle so far was to “identify, isolate and then cull”.

The problems facing those behind the £800,000 three year project are legion with a range of imponderables from the lack of visible symptoms through to the masking effects of any previous vaccination programme.

ANDREW ARBUCKLE

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