Bull and cow-level prevalence of paratuberculosis in Lidia’s cattle breed from the Azores

Abstract

Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) causes paratuberculosis, also known as Johne's disease, in domestic ruminants and wild species, resulting in economic losses among farmed ruminants. In Portugal, the true herd-level prevalence of paratuberculosis is unknown and the disease is considered under diagnosed. Particularly in the Azores only a very few studies were developed reporting this infection considering the potential loss in milk production. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the incidence of bovine paratuberculosis in a Lidia bovine population called "Brava dos Acores", destined to the typical Azorean street bullfighting as well as the traditional equestrian bullfight (in the ring). For such purpose, 68 animals belonging to that bullfight population mainly females (n= 55 vs 13 males) aged between 7 to 223 months were submitted to a blood collection, via the coccygeal vein, for diagnostic of paratuberculosis through the Elisa diagnostic test. Results showed that, from the 68 studied animals, 63 were negative for the presence of Paratuberculosis, 4 were positive and 1 was doubtful. The percentage of infected animals with positive and doubtful animals was 7.4%.In addition to the new knowledge obtained, it was concluded that further studies on this breed will be essential to expand the existing information.