Hi Dale,

Yes , agree on that.

One your website you are concerned that the State is not doing enough to
control Johne's. Here is South Africa, it is a Controlled Disease and by law
all positive farms must be quarantined, and all positive animals must
slaughtered at a registered Abattoir only. Obviously this would kill the
sheep industry, so different regulations are now put in place.

As far as I am aware, the bacteria ( M. paratuberculosis ) is not passed on
from ewe to lamb via milk, only by shed bacteria in the faeces. We have a
vaccine that drastically reduces the clinical signs in sheep/goats, and
reduces the shedding of the organism.

What is interesting, is that by name (paratuberculosis) you can see the
connection of the bacteria to human tuberculosis (TB), but no vaccine is
available to humans. Makes one think.....

Regards,

Trevor

----- Original Message -----
From: "Dale Roose" <dale@...>
To: <paratuberculosis@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, May 04, 2008 12:40 AM
Subject: Re: [paratuberculosis] Re: FWD: Sheep Aids hits hundreds of farmers
[South Africa]


> Hi Trevor:
>
> IMO, it wouldn't be a problem if they had compared and contrasted the two
> diseases (AIDS and Johne's), but instead, they tried to link the two for
> sensationalization. Nevertheless, it's an interesting comparison.
>
> Most or all cattle seem to have insufficient immune resistance to fight M.
> paratuberculosis, but in humans, most but not all humans seem to have
> sufficient immune resistance. The general assumption in U.S. healthcare is
> that M. paratuberculosis is not pathogenic because it only harms persons
> with AIDS. I have a suspicion that other humans besides those infected
> with HIV are also susceptible to the disease due to genetic differences or
> environmental conditions (diseases, chemical exposures causing liver
> damage, etc.). I'm uncomfortable with declaring a bacteria non-pathogenic
> because it only affects or kills a minority of persons just as diseases of
> early European explorers only caused deadly epidemics in the civilizations
> they visited.
>
> I think it's accurate to say that M. paratuberculosis infects macrophages
> of the immune system in the various mammals it infects including humans
> and that it releases a chemical that prevents macrophages from killing E.
> coli. By definition, that would be an acquired immune deficiency but very
> different from AIDS as caused by HIV which can effectively wipe out the
> immune system.
>
> To be accurate, these stories should also mention that M. paratuberculosis
> can also be found in tap water, tide pools, and soil. People should be
> told about the increasing prevalence of the disease over the past several
> decades and the geographical epidemiologies of M. paratuberculosis,
> Johne's, Crohn's Disease, and other possibly related diseases like
> Multiple Sclerosis. The articles should explain that epidemiological
> parallels don't necessarily signify cause and effect. Disinformation is
> often a factor more of what is not said than what is said.
>
> -- Dale
>