title: Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis confirmed following serological surveillance of small ruminants in Grenada, West Indies.
abstract: Surveillance for Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Map) infection in small ruminants of Grenada was undertaken using a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Among the 479 sheep tested, 11 (2.3%) were ELISA positive while only 1 out of 260 goats (0.3%) was ELISA positive. Five of the 12 ELISA-positive animals were also positive in a commercial agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) assay, and 4 of these showed acid-fast rods consistent with Map in fecal smears. Two sheep that were test-positive by ELISA, AGID, and fecal smears were euthanized and necropsied. Both had gross and histological lesions of paratuberculosis affecting the ileocecal area of small intestines and adjacent lymph nodes. These tissues were successfully cultured in 2 of 3 variants of Middlebrook 7H10 medium. The identity of acid-fast organisms isolated from the tissues was confirmed as Map by multiplex conventional polymerase chain reaction. Using IS1311 amplification and Hinf I restriction digest analysis, isolates were identified as cattle (C) strains of Map. The current study describes Map infection in Grenada and confirms the presence of C type in sheep on the island of Carriacou. The low seroprevalence in clinically normal animals on the islands of Grenada and Carriacou suggests that control measures implemented in the near future may have a good chance of preventing spread of the infection.
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medicine, St. George's University, Pathobiology Academic Program, University Centre, St. George's, Grenada, West Indies.
authors.forename: Sachin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumthekar
authors.forename: Elizabeth J B
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Manning
authors.forename: Pallab
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ghosh
authors.forename: Keshaw
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tiwari
authors.forename: Ravindra N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Harry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hariharan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000662:veterinary; D015511:Goat Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D006041:Goats; D019425:Grenada / Q000453:epidemiology; D007410:Intestinal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D016927:Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010283:Paratuberculosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D012756:Sheep; D012757:Sheep Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D004269:DNA, Bacterial
keywords: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; Grenada; Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis; goats; sheep