Friday, October 21, 2016

Johne's Dam and Her Calf

I was asked about Johne's control on a dairy and managing the calving process to reduce risk of transmission.


In my opinion, the risk of transmitting Johne's [mycobacterum avium ss. paratuberculosis] to calves can be reduced by following three straightforward steps:

1. For the calf born to a known Johne's dam, do not feed this dam's colostrum to any calf. 

2. For the calf born to a known Johne's dam, take the calf away from the dam as soon as practical -  always before the calf stands. Remember that mother (hair coat, licking the calf, fecal contamination of calf surroundings) is a pathogen factory.

3. For all calves, if possible calve known Johne's dams in a place separate from where other calves are being born - isolate the feces from known dams as much as possible from all newborn calves.

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