Effectiveness and Economic Viability of Johne's Disease (Paratuberculosis) Control Practices in Dairy Herds

Abstract

Johne's disease (JD or paratuberculosis) control programs have been established in many dairy-producing regions. However, the effectiveness (reduction of within-herd prevalence) and the relative economic impact as measured by, for example, the ratio of benefits to costs (BCR) across a comprehensive selection of regions and potential control practices require further investigation. Within a Markovian framework using region-specific economic variables, it was estimated that vaccination was the most promising type of JD control practice modeled, with dual-effect vaccines (reducing shedding and providing protective immunity) having BCRs between 1.48 and 2.13 in Canada, with a break-even period of between 6.17 and 7.61 years. Dual-effect vaccines were also estimated to yield BCRs greater than one in almost all major dairy-producing regions, with greater ratios in regions characterized by above-average farm-gate prices and annual production per cow. Testing and culling was comparably effective to a dual-effect vaccine at test sensitivities >70% but would remain economically unviable in almost all regions modeled.

Acute Phase Proteins as Biomarkers in Perspective to Animal Diseases Diagnosis

“…paratuberculosis (MAP) (Pillars et al 2009). According to literature, paratuberculosis causes a huge loss in comparison to other diseases like enzootic bovine leukosis, bovine viral diarrhea and neosporosis (Chi et al 2002;Rasmussen et al 2021).…”

Economic premiums associated with Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis-negative replacement purchases in major dairy-producing regions

“…The herd-level prevalence of MAP infection likely exceeds 50% in most countries with significant dairy industries (Barkema et al, 2018), and there is a need to comprehensively estimate the value of JD control to dairy producers. Although estimates exist for the effectiveness and economic benefits of various potential control practices (Groenendaal et al, 2002;Groenendaal et al, 2003;Kudahl et al, 2007;Groenendaal et al, 2015;Kirkeby et al, 2016; Economic premiums associated with Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis-negative replacement purchases in major dairy-producing regions Rasmussen et al, 2021b), little is known about the economic benefits associated with purchasing MAP-negative replacements. Accordingly, this study used the Markovian framework established in Rasmussen et al (2021a) to estimate economic premiums associated with MAP-negative replacement purchases across a comprehensive selection of dairy-producing regions over a 10-yr horizon.…”