MAP, Johne's disease and the microbiome; current knowledge and future considerations

Abstract

Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis is the causative agent of Johne's disease in ruminants. As an infectious disease that causes reduced milk yields, effects fertility and, eventually, the loss of the animal, it is a huge financial burden for associated industries. Efforts to control MAP infection and Johne's disease are complicated due to difficulties of diagnosis in the early stages of infection and challenges relating to the specificity and sensitivity of current testing methods. The methods that are available contribute to widely used test and cull strategies, vaccination programmes also in place in some countries. Next generation sequencing technologies have opened up new avenues for the discovery of novel biomarkers for disease prediction within MAP genomes and within ruminant microbiomes. Controlling Johne's disease in herds can lead to improved animal health and welfare, in turn leading to increased productivity. With current climate change bills, such as the European Green Deal, targeting livestock production systems for more sustainable practices, managing animal health is now more important than ever before. This review provides an overview of the current knowledge on genomics and detection of MAP as it pertains to Johne's disease.

Fig. 1

Nomenclature of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Adapted from [64]). There are two major groups of strains; Sheep-type, or Type S, and Cattle Type, or Type C, and an “intermediate” Type III, a sub-type of Type S. Type B is a subtype of Type C and is typically isolated from Bison

Fig. 2

Microbiome project workflow for determining the microbiome associated with JD susceptibility or resistance (Adapted from Matthews et al. [160])