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. 2021 Aug 31;11(9):2569.
doi: 10.3390/ani11092569.

Attempted Control of Paratuberculosis in Dairy Calves by Only Changing the Quality of Milk Fed to Calves

Pamela Steuer  1   2 , Carlos Tejeda  1   2 , Manuel Moroni  3 , Cristobal Verdugo  1 , Michael Thomas Collins  4 , Miguel Salgado  1
Affiliations

Attempted Control of Paratuberculosis in Dairy Calves by Only Changing the Quality of Milk Fed to Calves

Pamela Steuer et al. Animals (Basel). .

Abstract

One of the important routes of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) transmission in dairy calves is milk. The aim of the present study was to assess the efficacy of milk treatments to prevent MAP infection transmission to calves. A one-year longitudinal study was carried out. Newborn calves were assigned to one of four experimental groups: 5 calves received naturally MAP-contaminated milk, 5 calves received copper treated milk, 4 calves were fed calf milk replacer, and 3 were fed UHT pasteurized milk. MAP load in milk was estimated. Infection progression was monitored monthly. After one year, calves were euthanized, and tissue samples were cultured and visually examined. MAP was undetectable in milk replacer and UHT milk. Copper ion treatment significantly reduced the number of viable MAP in naturally contaminated milk. Fecal shedding of MAP was observed in all study groups but began earlier in calves fed naturally contaminated milk. Paratuberculosis control programs must place multiple hurdles between the infection source, MAP-infected adult cows, and the most susceptible animals on the farm, young calves. As our study shows, strict dependence on a single intervention to block infection transmission, no matter how important, fails to control this insidious infection on dairy farms.

Keywords: MAP; calves; copper; infection transmission; milk.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Findings observed after post-mortem examination of the calves. (A) Moderately enlarged mesenteric lymph nodes. Calf #050917, group A; (B) mesenteric lymph node with marked proliferation of cortical lymphoid tissue. Calf #300917, group A; (C) dilatation and signs of lymphangitis on the serosa of the ileum. Calf #300917, group A; and (D) folding of the ileal mucosa. Calf #011017, group A.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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