title: Ovine paratuberculosis: a seroprevalence study in dairy flocks reared in the marche region, Italy.
abstract: In order to fulfil the seroprevalence gap on Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis infection in ovine dairy farms of Marche region (central Italy), a stratified study was carried out on 2086 adult female sheep randomly chosen from 38 herds selected in Ancona and Macerata provinces. 73.7% flocks resulted infected by a commercial ELISA test (Pourquier, France), with a mean seroprevalence of 6.29% of sampled sheep in both provinces. A higher number of MAP seropositive ewes was recorded in the large herds' consistence than in the small and medium herds' consistence (P = 0.0269), and a greater percentage of infected sheep was obtained among female at early/late than in peak lactation stage (P = 0.0237). MAP infection was confirmed in 12.6% of infected farms by faecal culture. The true sheep-level seroprevalence was 15.1% ± 7.3%.
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medical Sciences, University of Camerino, via Circonvallazione 93-95, 62024 Matelica, Italy.
authors.forename: Attili
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Anna Rita
authors.forename: Ngu Ngwa
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Victor
authors.forename: Preziuso
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Silvia
authors.forename: Pacifici
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Luciana
authors.forename: Domesi
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Anastasia
authors.forename: Cuteri
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vincenzo