Seroprevalence of paratuberculosis in Indian buffaloes

Paratuberculosis (Johne’s disease) is considered to be the most serious debilitating disease in ruminants and is caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP). The disease is prevalent worldwide and causes huge economic losses due to decline in lifetime productivity and death of animals in clinically advanced stage of disease. An estimate of prevalence of paratuberculosis is generally assessed by bacterial culture or by detection of antibodies to MAP in serum or milk 2,3 . Bacterial isolation, though considered most specific, is less sensitive, cumbersome and time-consuming. Alternatively, a number of serological assays including complement fixation test (CFT), agar-gel immunodiffusion (AGID) and absorbedELISA are mostly used for prevalence studies in most countries 4,7,8 . Among them, absorbed ELISA has been reported to be more sensitive and specific for paratuberculosis 2,3 . Indian buffalo population is the largest in the world, which significantly contributes to the total production of milk and meat in the country. Although the disease was reported to be present in buffaloes, based on microscopic examination of smears and johnin skin test, neither confirmation nor estimation of the prevalence