Johnes?

[milkmaid]

anyone know if infected young stock that are not showing signs of the disease can be shedding the bacterium in their manure, and infecting other animals?

 

[KNERSIE]

I believe they can.

All this talk about Johnes makes me curious. How big a problem is it in the USA, over here its mostly a problem in sheep and often when sheep and cattle graze the same land the sheep gets affected and not really the cattle. Not saying here isn't any Johnes cases in cattle, but its not that big a concern, yet.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

I believe they can.

All this talk about Johnes makes me curious. How big a problem is it in the USA, over here its mostly a problem in sheep and often when sheep and cattle graze the same land the sheep gets affected and not really the cattle. Not saying here isn't any Johnes cases in cattle, but its not that big a concern, yet.

im betting its actually a bigger problem then we know. with cattlemen mistaken them for poor doers. are by the time they figure it out and it shows up they have retained heifer's from that one great cow that finally played out

 

[SRBeef]

Here is a good overview description of Johnes disease:

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/ ... le3-06.pdf

I turned the herd out on grass in WI a week ago - it was fun to watch 1100-1200 lb cow leaping for joy as they entered the green pasture.

Ever since then, however, they have all had runny manure. It had been "normal" before that when they were on hay. I think this change in manure is due to the sudden switch to lush green grass. It is amazing to watch how aggressively they graze at times!

I hope that all this talk of Johnes is not just due to a seasonal switch from hay to pasture and causing unnecessary alarm.

 

[milkmaid]

I hope that all this talk of Johnes is not just due to a seasonal switch from hay to pasture and causing unnecessary alarm.

Nope... picked up a group of calves (unknown status) from a large dairy this afternoon and just trying to decide what kind of risk I'm running.

 

[Santas and Duhram Reds]

talked to my vet today about this. She said that it really isn't that prevalent in this area. The only cases she has seen have been in dairy cattle, but that is just her experience in my area.