Control programmes for Johne's disease in cattle: An international review

The limiting effect Johne's disease has on cattle production has caused concern throughout the world, but there is now the spectre of a possible zoonotic link. As a consequence, there is increasing interest in control and at least twelve countries have reported control strategies. A split can be made between countries where the disease is largely absent and has been made notifiable and countries where the prevalence of the disease is high. In the latter, a two-pronged approach is generally followed. Firstly, herds that are free from the infection are identified through assurance schemes in order to provide a pool of breeding cattle for internal trading and, secondly, control programmes are offered to infected herds based on best practice management and test and cull procedures.