Researchers Find Genetic Link Specific in Identifying Johne's Disease (Disease caused by MAP) in Cattle

John's the man!!!
Ewwww  think about it for a second.  $220 million each year is spent on sick cows that are affected by MAP bacteria (bacteria that causes Johnes Disease).  How many cows are we talking about here?? A LOT! No wonder the # of people with Crohn's Disease is quickly increasing.  All the freaking cows milk is tainted.  

Will vaccinating cattle protect them from such a nasty tough as steel bacteria like MAP though. Say the vaccinated cows show no signs of illness at all, but they have trace amounts of the MAP bacteria living in them that doesn't bring on Johne's Disease.  Will that small amount of bacteria that is passed to humans through dairy intake be enough to make people sick?  I'm just thinking out loud...  Just wondering how this discovery is going to affect the dairy industry.  Just have to wait and see. 

Researchers uncover genetic link to cattle diseases - Farm and Ranch Guide: Livestock News:

Posted: Wednesday, April 17, 2013 3:00 am

By Sandra Avant, ARS News Service | 0 comments

Detecting the costly, contagious Johne's disease in cattle is now easier, thanks to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists.

Johne's disease, also known as Paratuberculosis, is estimated to cost the U.S. dairy industry more than $220 million each year. It also affects sheep, goats, deer and other animals, causing diarrhea, reduced feed intake, weight loss and sometimes death.

Microbiologist John Bannantine and his colleagues at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) National Animal Disease Center (NADC) in Ames, Iowa, discovered an antibody that's 100 percent specific in detecting Johne's disease. This is the first time a specific antibody that binds only to Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP), the pathogen that causes the disease, has been discovered. A patent has been awarded to scientists for the antibody, which could greatly benefit the improvement of diagnostic tests that confirm the presence of MAP.

Previous efforts to detect Johne's disease were hindered because all antibodies used to identify MAP strains also reacted to environmental mycobacteria, according to Bannantine, who works in NADC's Infectious Bacterial Diseases Research Unit. Some of those antibodies also reacted to the disease pathogen responsible for bovine tuberculosis (TB) and caused false-positive results.

Other research, conducted by NADC microbiologist Judy Stabel, focused on ensuring that Johne's disease vaccines do not cross-react with tests for bovine TB, a disease problem in states where wild deer infect cattle.

Stabel and her team vaccinated calves with an effective commercial Johne's vaccine to test cross reactivity with TB tests. They took blood samples for a year and then measured immune and serological responses of calves using novel TB tests.

Scientists found no cross reactivity with the TB serology tests, demonstrating that animals could be vaccinated against Johne's disease without interfering with bovine TB testing. Similar results were found with the skin test used to detect TB in cattle.

Read more about this research in the April 2013 issue of Agricultural Research magazine.

Researchers Report - 200 Genes Have a Connection to Crohn's Disease

Wish there was more to be said about these 200 genes they found that point to Crohn's.  Nice to know.  

Crohn's Disease, from what I read on a regular basis, is one of the most complex diseases to understand.  Scientists seem to always discover a relationship with "A" ("A" could be any of the following, I'm only listing a few:  impaired  immune response, an increased level of a serine protease, an antigen/toxin, introduced into the body,  a pathogen {a bacteria(especially MAP), virus, fungus} are associated with Crohn's, genetic factors... 200 of them apparently, drugs ( Accutane is the one I hear about the most), environmental factors such as hormonal therapy, ex. birth control.  Not enough exposure to parasites, microorganisms and infectious agents in early childhood- See: Hygiene Hypothesis.     OK that's enough.    You get the point.  

Crohn's can be associated with so many factors, but the progression to determine more components about that factor "A", may lead to other discoveries that bring understanding about how "A" and "B", but not enough to progress with more research studies. 

Then ... That's it!  Scientists reach dead ends. It seems as if the findings discovered do not provide enough concrete information to bring more understanding about the disease which halts additional  research You never hear  much more about the relationship between A & B again. This happens so much with so many of the studies that seek to understand the disease and they all seem to reach a dead end at some point during the research.  There's  a few factors that have a pretty good progression that continue to lead to more connections; & its MAP.  It is the only information that I have read  and continue to read that discover  new findings and links to Crohn's.  Scientists are able to get somewhere with their findings that allow them to be able to do more studies and they gain more  understanding about the disease. 

The other factor that stands out is the Hygiene Hypothesis.  Read about it, it makes sense. 

Of all the conditions we would have to have is one as complicated as the Crohn.    I associate the Crohn's with a nightmare person that is sorta like a stalker/rude/unpredictable/enjoys messing up my day(s) and overstays their welcome ... but they were never welocome to begin with ... The nightmare just comes right in and makes itself at home.   

Anyway... enough of my babble.  Feel free to comment on your thoughts on what research seems to stand and  make progress toward an effective treatment and maybe even a cure.  I'd love to hear what you've found .