Evaluation of clinical and intestinal ultrasonographic findings in cows with Johne's disease

Paratuberclosis or Johne’s disease is an infection of small intestine caused by Mycobacteriom avium paratuberculosis characterized by persistent and progressive diarrhea, weight loss, debilitation, and eventual death in cattle. A suitable and rapid method for diagnosis of the disease in farms is not available. Trans-abdominal ultrasound is a rapid, clinical and non-invasive diagnostic method recommended for diagnosis of animals with chronic inflammation of the intestine. The purpose of the present study was clinical and trans-abdominal ultrasound examination of cattle infected with organism of the Johns disease. This study was done on 20 female Holstein cattle with consist chronic diarrhea and/or weight loss. All animals were blindly tested for Mycobacteriom paratuberculosis antibodies in blood samples by ELISA and also examined by trans-abdominal ultrasound for intestinal wall thickness. The result of the ELISA test showed that 35% of the samples had antibodies against Mycobacteriom paratuberculosis. The rates of chronic diarrhea, low body condition score and both of them in cattle with positive ELISA were 100%, 71.4% and 71.4%, respectively. In the trans-abdominal ultrasound examination, the intestinal wall thickness of the infected animals (7.9±1.54 mm), was significantly (