Incidence Of Johne’s Disease
Is Rising In Oklahoma Cattle

By Mahlon Hunt
Oklahoma State University

STILLWATER — Johne's disease, pronounced yo-nee's, is an emerging bacterial disease affecting Oklahoma cattle, warns an Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension veterinarian.

Dr. Tom Thedford says Johne's is a slow-moving inflammatory disease of the intestine that infects cattle and other ruminants. The infectious bacteria is similar to the organism that causes tuberculosis in humans and animals. However, Johne's is not contagious to humans.

Johne's has a 100 percent mortality rate among infected cattle.

"Of those infected, 100 percent die from it eventually. However, Johne's is an insidious, slowly progressing disease," Thedford notes. "Cattle contract it as calves but don't show symptoms until they are three to six years old."

The disease is spread by cattle ingesting or eating contaminated fecal matter, Thedford says. The most common way the disease is spread is by calves nursing infected mothers, he adds.

Herd concentration also plays an integral role in the spread of Johne's. The more concentrated a herd, the more likely the chances of infection.

"Johne's appears to be more common in dairy cattle than beef cattle, because dairy cattle are raised more intensively," he says.

Thedford stresses the importance of obtaining a diagnosis.

"If you suspect you have it in your herd, it's to your economic advantage to get a diagnosis," he says, adding that producers should suspect Johne's in cattle that are non-responsive to treatment for chronic weight loss and diarrhea.

Johne's is easier to diagnose today because of the development of several ante-mortem tests in the last five years, Thedford says. Veterinarians can send blood samples from suspect cattle into the Oklahoma Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory to test for Johne's.

Since there is no vaccination or known treatment for Johne's, infected cattle should be humanely euthanized and disposed of by inceration or burial.

"It's to the stockman's advantage to get a diagnosis, destroy the animal and bury it," Thedford says.

Although veterinarians are seeing more cases of Johne's in Oklahoma, the disease isn't new to the state. Other more contagious diseases have drawn more attention than Johne's, Thedford notes.

"In the past, diseases like brucellocis, tuberculosis and anaplasmosis have been in the forefront. Now that we have them on the run, Johne's is coming to the forefront," he says. "In the future we'll probably see an eradication program implemented for Johne's."

Although the disease is fatal, there's no need for livestock producers to panic, he says.

"Johne's disease is a serious disease, but it's not widespread. Johne's is slow to spread and isn't highly contagious," Thedford points out.

For more information about Johne's disease, producers can consult OSU Extension Facts number 9126, which is available through all county Extension offices or on the OCES World Wide Web homepage at www.okstate.edu/OSU_Ag/oces/.