Johnes disease

[cowman]

If we ever get to the point where we need to test everything for BSE would it not be a good idea to test for Johnes? If the government ever gets off its butt and comes up with a pre-slaughter blood test for BSE how hard would it be to also test for Johnes? Johnes disease has been linked to Crohns disease in humans and is not a very nice disease at all! I knew a guy who caught it when he was in his mid twenties and he has basically been an invalid ever since.

[rsomer]

There tests now but they have a lot of false positives. The Alberta Beef Producers has been funding research for tests and preventions for Johnes for about 4 years. Although a link between Johnes and Chrohn has never been established countries such as Australia are working to eliminate Johnes from their domestic herd. I believe Johnes is a real concern since it does exist in our herd, BSE is more of a media thing

[ALICIA]

You's keep talking about all the things that are out their and you will have all the city people really wanting to move to Mars. But maybe that wouldn't be a bad thing, don't look like their is anything to eat up their eather.

[cowman]

Apparently GeneThera(The Colorado biotech co.) can test for Johnes, and E.coli using the same principals as the BSE blood test. If you are sending them a sample for BSE might as well test for these others at the same time?

[kato]

There are labs here that test for Johnes. There is also a dna based test available. If anyone thinks it may be in their herd, any vet can help track it down.

One big flag to watch for is first calf heifers who suddenly develop uncontrollable diahrea after having their first calf. The disease is passed from cow to calf in the milk, and these calves usually look pretty good until they come up against a big stress like having and nursing that first calf. If they get run down for any reason, it seems to trigger symptoms.