Food safety concerns regarding paratuberculosis.
Both ante mortem and post mortem contamination of foods of animal origin commonly occurs. Food manufacturing practices fail to reliably kill Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) due to its innate resistance to heat and other physical factors. While medical science does not agree on the human health consequences of MAP exposure, this potentially zoonotic pathogen is found in a significant proportion of people with a disease bearing marked similarity to Johne’s disease (ie, Crohn’s disease). Control of MAP infections in farm animals to mitigate the risk of human exposure is one additional reason for on-farm measures to control Johne’s disease.
Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin, 2015 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706-1102, USA. mcollin5@wisc.edu
Michael T
MT
Collins
D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D003611:Dairy Products; D005516:Food Microbiology; D059022:Food Safety; D006801:Humans; D008460:Meat; D016927:Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010283:Paratuberculosis / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000635:transmission*; D012418:Ruminants; D014871:Water Microbiology; D014881:Water Supply; D015047:Zoonoses