Johne's Disease

J OHNE'S disease (paratuberculosis) is a chronic infectious disease of cattle and it is occasionally found in sheep and goats. It is caused by a small rod-shaped acid-fast bacillus, Mycobacteri'um para-tuberculosis which attacks the intestinal mucosa. This disease was first reported in the United States in 1908. Since that time it has been diagnosed with increasing fre-quency. Hastings, et al, (1927) 1 showed 127 infected herds in 25 states. A recent survey conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Animal Industry, revealed that Johne's disease exists or has existed in 454 herd