title: Experimental infection of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) with Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis.
abstract: Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Map) is the causative agent of paratuberculosis or Johne's disease, a chronic enteric disease of domestic ruminants as well as some nondomestic ruminants. Paratuberculosis is characterized by a protracted subclinical phase followed by clinical signs such as diarrhea, weight loss, and hypoproteinemia. Fecal shedding of Map is characteristic of both the subclinical and clinical phases, and it is important in disease transmission. Lesions of paratuberculosis are characterized by chronic granulomatous enteritis and mesenteric lymphadenitis. Animal models of paratuberculosis that simulate all aspects of the disease are rare. Oral inoculation of 9-day-old white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) on 3 June 2002 with 1.87 x 10(10) colony-forming units of Map strain K10 resulted in clinical disease (soft to diarrheic feces) as early as 146 days after inoculation; lesions consistent with paratuberculosis were observed in animals at the termination of the study. Intermittent fecal shedding of Map was seen between 28 and 595 days (4 March 2004) after inoculation. These findings suggest that experimental oral inoculation of white-tailed deer fawns may mimic all aspects of subclinical and clinical paratuberculosis.
authors.affiliation: Bacterial Diseases of Livestock Research Unit, National Animal Disease Center, USDA, Agricultural Research Service, 2300 Dayton Avenue, Ames, Iowa 50010, USA. mitchell_palmer@ars.usda.gov
authors.forename: Mitchell V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Palmer
authors.forename: Judith R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Stabel
authors.forename: W Ray
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Waters
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Bannantine
authors.forename: Janice M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000382:microbiology; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial / Q000662:veterinary; D003670:Deer / Q000382:microbiology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D016927:Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis / Q000276:immunology / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D010283:Paratuberculosis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000635:transmission; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial