Retrospective Study on the Association of Risk Factors of Johne’s Disease along with Physiological Biomarker in Large Ruminants of Punjab, Pakistan

ABSTRACT The present study elucidated sero-prevalence of Mycobacterium avium sub sp. paratuberculosis (MAP) in cattle and buffalo. Diarrhea is a major risk factor for MAP, so 1100 blood samples were collected from diarrheic animals or having history of some diarrheic episodes from four districts of Punjab i.e. Kasur (n=300), Rawalpindi (n=230), Lahore (n=230) and Bahawalpur (n=340). These samples were tested using ELISA and overall seroprevalence found was 39.64%. The major host-associated and non-associated risk factors of MAP were also considered. It was found that positive percentage of MAP was 2.20 times more in buffaloes than in cattle; 21.19 times more in females than in males; 1.04 times more in adult animals having age >6 years; and 1.20 times more in dry animals compared to milking animals. Furthermore, body condition score (BCS), type of housing, and condition of drinking water were also found to have significant (p