Will the presence of Johnes disease confuse the meaning of TB testing procedures?
Reason #2 – In deer and elk, this disease frequently does not merely cause a loss of production efficiency. In these species it can occur as expensive clinical outbreaks with a younger class affected after a shorter incubation time and with significant mortality. Reason #3 – In deer and elk, Johne’s disease may be unwittingly transmitted to animals (herds) by bottle raising elk with goat colostrum or milk; not an uncommon practice on deer and elk farms. Reason #4 – The disease is a lot easier to prevent than to eradicate from herds. Efforts to rid an individual herd of Johne’s are slow and expensive. Basically it’s a test and slaughter affair. Reason #5 – Diagnosis of Johne’s disease in deer and elk is difficult. The suitability of existing tests is not established or well understood in deer and elk. Research is underway to adapt and refine domestic livestock tests for use in deer and elk.
