Animal Diseases-Miscellaneous Diseases Caused by Bacteria:part II Johne's disease

Abstract

Johne's disease is an insidious disease affecting cattle, sheep and goats: it is characterizeds by an extremely long incubation period and it causes scouring, wasting and eventually death in affected animals. It is as a disease of cattle that Johne's disease is of growing importance in Kenya. It has never been diagnosed here in sheep or goats, and if it exists in these animals it probably does so only on a minor scale. Sporadic cases of the bovine disease have been known in Kenya for many years, and it is now recognized that infection is widespread throughout the Colony and is the cause of much economic loss, particularly in certain high rainfall areas. Because of its insidious nature the disease may not become apparent for many months, sometimes even years, after infection gains entrance to a herd; by the time the first two or three clinical cases have appeared, a large proportion of the herd may be infected.