What causes Johnes disease?
The bacterium that causes Johne’s disease is named Mycobacterium paratuberculosis: often the name is abbreviated M. paratuberculosis. Microbial taxonomists have suggested it should be renamed M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP), and some publications use this name. It is a relative of the bacterium that causes tuberculosis in humans and animals. M. paratuberculosis only grows in animals: it can not grow and multiply in nature. However, if soil or water is contaminated with this bacterium, it can survive over a year because of its resistance to heat, cold and drying. See the Biology of M. paratuberculosis page of this site for more detailed information.
The bacterium that causes Johne’s disease is named Mycobacterium paratuberculosis often the name is abbreviated M. paratuberculosis. M. paratuberculosis is a relative of the bacterium that causes tuberculosis in humans (Mycobacterium tuberculosis), cattle (Mycobacterium bovis), and birds (Mycobacterium avium – Some taxonomists favor the name Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis for the organism that causes Johne’s disease, since genetically it is closely related to M. avium. M. paratuberculosis can replicate only when it is in animals: it cannot multiply in nature, outside the animal. However, if soil or water is contaminated with this bacterium, it can survive there for over a year because of its resistance to heat, cold and drying. See “Biology of M. paratuberculosis” for more information.
The bacterium that causes Johne’s disease is named Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis. The name is abbreviated M. a. paratuberculosis or M. paratuberculosis. It is in the same family as the bacterium that causes tuberculosis in humans and animals and the type of disease it causes shares some characteristics with tuberculosis: it is slow to develop, it is resistant to antibiotics and is contagious. M. paratuberculosis can replicate only when within the animal; it cannot multiply in the environment. However, the bacterium reportedly can survive, still infectious, in the soil or water for over a year because of its resistance to heat, cold and drying.
The bacterium that causes Johne’s disease is named Mycobacterium paratuberculosis. In some literature, it is referred to as Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis, and is a distant relative of the bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB) in humans and animals. M. paratuberculosis does not multiply outside the animals body, but is able to survive in soil and water up to one year, thus representing a danger to other animals that might ingest the organism.
