Pavatuberculosis of Cattle. (^39 



3. Specific Paratuberculosis of Cattle. 



{Enteritis paratuherculosis hovis specifica. Johne's disease 



[English]; Enteritis chronica hovis pseudotuberculosa s. 



specifica; Enteritis chronica hypertrophica hovis.) 



History. In 1895 Johiie & Frothinghani observed a peculiar afifee- 

 lion of the intestinal nnieous membrane in an ox which manifested 

 itself in extensive maculate swelling and reddening, and a profuse 

 secretion of mncns; tubercles and ulcers were absent. On account of 

 Ihe presence of numerous masses of acid-fast tubercle bacilli they re- 

 garded this affection as a special form of intestinal tuberculosis, possibly 

 brought about by infection with avian bacilli. More recently this dis- 

 ease has also been observed in other countries, occasionally in the form 

 of an enzootic, and has been made the object of special investigation 

 by Markus, Lienaux & van der Eeckhout, Bongert, Bang and von 

 Meyer. 



The name enteritis paratuberculosis bovis specifica is probably best adapted 

 for designating this disease, since other names that have been suggested also 

 apply to other enterites of cattle and because the term paratuberculosis is generally 

 understood to refer to acid -fast bacteria which must be diiferentiated from true 

 tubercle bacilli, thus clearly indicating the non-identity of this disease and tuber- 

 culosis (better than pseudotuberculosis). 



Occurrence. Up to the present time the disease has been 

 observed in Germany, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, France, 

 Norway, Sw^eden, Hanover and North America. Tt occurs 

 principally in young cows, but also in calves and heifers as 

 w^ell as in older cattle, usually sporadically but not infrequently 

 as an enzootic. In Switzerland 80% of the cases of chronic 

 gastro-intestinal catarrh might be ascribed to this disease, wdiile 

 losses occurring in Denmark probably approach 10%. 



Etiolog'y. The disease undoubtedly bears a certain rela- 

 tionship to the presence of small acid-fast bacilli which exist 

 in large numbers in the intestinal mucous membrane, since, 

 however, it has not yet been possil)le, in spite of numerous 

 attempts, to cultivate the bacilli and produce specific affection 

 with their pure cultures, the views expressed in regard to this 

 matter are rather divergent, while for example Johne & 

 Frothinghani, Bourgeaud and Stuurman regarded them as 

 avian tubercle bacilli, Lienaux & van der Eeckhout, and also 

 Bongert looked upon them as attenuated mammalian tubercle 

 bacilli. More recently Lienaux considered them as a sapro- 

 phytic variety of bovine bacillus, wdiile Markus, Bang, Mac- 

 Fadyean, Meyer & Miessner expressed the opinion that it is a 

 matter of a specific disease caused by acid-fast bacteria of an 

 entirely different nature than the true tubercle bacilli. It was 

 impossible to produce a true progressive tuberculosis in ex- 

 periment animals (guinea pigs, rabbits, goats and fowls)' by 

 means of material obtained from naturally infected animals. 

 The results of inoculations consisted merely in the development 



