Johne's Education & Management Program

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What's in the program?
The program has four elements:

1. Education
2. Animal Health Risk Assessment and Management Plan
3. Testing
4. Removal of high titre Johne's cows

The program offers each producer a financial incentive to test all lactating cows once during the four years of the program. Producers will be required to do the RAMP with their trained herd veterinarian each year and remove high titre cows within 90 days of test day.

What does a producer have to do as part of this program?
Producers need to complete an annual Animal Health and Johne's Disease Risk Assessment and Management Plan (RAMP) with their herd veterinarian. Producers can arrange to test and be reimbursed, provided all conditions are met. Testing is voluntary but highly recommended. There is allowance for one complete herd test during the four year program.

To be reimbursed the following conditions must be met:

The entire lactating herd must be tested on a single occasion.
Testing fees must be paid in full
The RAMP for that year must be completed and submitted
Any cows with Johne's titres 1.0 or higher must be removed to rendering, burial or composting, and the removal documented with a Disposal Form

The herd veterinarian and the owner will conduct the risk assessment and decide on the changes to management and facilities that can be made and that will help prevent Johne's infection in young calves. Ultimately it is the producer's responsibility to implement the recommendations to receive the full disease prevention benefit of the program.

How does a producer get their herd tested?
All producers will be assigned a testing time or window, for their area. The month before a producers 'testing window' is open, they will receive a Testing Submission Form (the green sheet) in the mail with their monthly milk statement. On receiving the green sheet, if the producer wishes to test on their test day with the Johne's milk ELISA test, they need to contact their CWDHI staff person. If they wish to use the serum ELISA they need to contact their veterinarian to arrange blood sampling and submission to the Animal Health Laboratory (AHL) in Guelph . Green sheets need to be completely filled out and submitted with the milk samples to DHI or the blood samples to AHL. If submitting to the AHL an animal health list will need to be completed to provide individual cow identification and information to the Johne's program.

Is testing mandatory?
Testing of the herd is voluntary but strongly encouraged. One of the goals of the overall program is to establish the status of the province with regards to Johne's Disease. The program provides reimbursement at $8 per cow tested, provided the entire milking herd is tested on one test day. Research shows that herds that use herd testing are more likely to make progress with their Johne's prevention program.

How good are the tests for Johne's?
None of the Johne's tests completely identify all Johne's infected cows because of the slowly progressive nature of the infection. However, research has shown that cows with high titres (interpreted as >1.0 for the program, the HTCs or high test cows) on the Johne's milk ELISA are reliably identified and highly likely to be shedding the organism. The overall goal of herd testing in this program is to establish the overall herd's Johne's status (is there a high or low prevalence of infected cows?) and to estimate the infection pressure exerted on calves in the herd by shedding animals. For this purpose, the herd level determination, the whole herd testing using milk or serum ELISA tests, performs well.

The testing of the whole herd of lactating cows at a single time does a good job of identifying herds where the infection is likely to be present.

Why is the program relying so heavily on the milk ELISA test for Johne's?
The program utilizes the milk ELISA for several reasons:

The test technology has been validated in Ontario under our herd, farm, and laboratory conditions
It is easily requested by most producers in the province
Whole herd testing is easily done
Test results are matched up to cow identities and ages
Test results are permanently available to owners and advisors (but only at the owner's request)
Results are provided in an easy to use format and can be transferred electronically.

One of the intentions of the program is to establish Ontario 's provincial Johne's status. To do this, the Johne's test results need to be collected (without herd identifiers) to find out how many cows have positive tests, what the pattern of disease is and to show improvements over time.

Alternatively, the serum ELISA offered by the AHL in Guelph can be used and will be covered by the program at the same reimbursement rate ($8 per cow tested). Using this serum ELISA test will require the collection of a blood sample from each cow and the reliable recording of the identification of each animal tested. Additional data entry will be needed to match cow test result and cow information. Herd owners will need to be responsible for retaining herd records for future management purposes.

What if I can't test during my assigned testing window?
There may be the occasional situation arise where a producer cannot arrange to get testing done during their allotted testing window. If this occurs, contact the program co-coordinator. Another time, potentially at the end of the full testing cycle, will be arranged.

What if I've already done some Johne's testing? Do I have to do more?
The program provides for reimbursement for one complete Johne's herd test done only after the start date of the program. No one has to test their herd as Johne's testing under this program is voluntary. All herds are encouraged to at least test once after the program starts. Consult with your herd veterinarian to find out how best to time the testing for your herd, within the programs parameters (either in your testing window, or potentially by special arrangement, at the end of the testing program).

Can non-DHI herds use the milk ELISA test for Johne's?
Yes. Herds not enrolled in the DHI testing service can request the Johne's milk testing service by contacting their local CWDHI CSR or head office (1-800-549-4373). Samples will be collected from each cow at milking time, according to the CW DHI protocol, on the agreed test day and submitted to the DHI lab for Johne's testing. Herd owners are remain responsible for charges other than the $8 per cow tested laboratory fee.

What will happen to animals that test positive for Johne's Disease under the program?
Nothing will happen to animals that have positive tests for Johne's Disease under the program. If a cow's test result shows a titre of 1.0 or higher then these cows can be voluntarily removed by the owner. This is one of the conditions for the financial reimbursement. These cows, the high test positives (HTCs) are highly likely to be actively shedding the Johne's organism. For the herd owner to be reimbursed the $8 per every cow tested, these cows must be removed within 90 days of the test date on which the cow tested positive. A removal form must be completed and submitted to the program administrator. If the cow is composted or buried on farm the disposal certificate for the cow must be signed by the Johne's certified herd veterinarian. If the cow is removed to rendering, deadstock operations will be asked to verify receipt and disposal.

If cows test positive for Johne's on the milk or serum ELISA should I get another test done to
confirm that the cow is infected?
No. The testing of individual cows is done to establish the HERD status. We test individual cow samples because we have no aggregate test we can do at this time (ie there is no bulk milk test available currently). This means we should not attempt to establish the infection status of each and every individual cow it is too costly and the tests do not perform in a way that accurately establishes each cow's infection status. Rather, a herd owner should expect to find out if it is likely that his or her herd has Johne's, whether the herd had a low or high rate of infection and whether there are any high titre (shedding) cows (result > 1.0) in the milking herd on test day.

The overall assessment of the importance of Johne's Disease to a herd owner will be determined through consideration of the test results, prior history of the herd and the results of the RAMP (an assessment of the management practises in place). A herd owner should always consult their herd veterinarian to get an appropriate interpretation of their herd's Johne's test results.

If a cow has a high positive test result for Johne's on the milk ELISA shouldn't she be culture positive too?
The relationship between the Johne's milk ELISA titre and the risk of shedding of the Johne's organism has been established in a research project run in Ontario by the OVC. This relationship does not mean that every high titre cow will be culture positive all the time on a single fecal test. Cows infected with Johne's may shed periodically and can sometimes shed relatively few organisms compared to the large volume of manure they produce. Research has established that infected cows followed over time are not always positive on serial fecal cultures or PCR tests therefore the chance of reliably using another test to confirm milk or serum ELISA test results is low.

Although cows may shed periodically, over time the number of organisms they produce and deposit in the environment is high. The Johne's bacteria have been shown to be very resistant to killing and may accumulate in the farm environment. This poses a critical risk to young stock.

Will Johne's test positive animals be visibly identified somehow?
Cows that test positive during the Johne's program will only be identified for the owner and their herd veterinarian. This information is intended to assist in making herd management decisions. There will be no official identification on the animal, on the pedigree or on anything other than the owner's personal DHI and herd records. Potential purchasers or marketers of cattle can only learn a cow or herd's Johne's test status by requesting that information from the seller.

Will there be any restriction by Johne's status on animals moving into and out of the province?
There is no mechanism to restrict the movement or sale of animals coming into or leaving Ontario with regards to Johne's test status. As it has always been, it will be the purchaser's and the seller's personal responsibility to request or share Johne's test results on a particular animal or herd.

Can prospective cattle purchasers' access test Johne's test results from CanWest DHI or the
Animal Health Laboratory at the University of Guelph?
Only the herd owner or the herd veterinarian, with the owner's permission, can request and receive test results from CanWest DHI or the AHL. This information is the property of the owner and can only be shared at the express request of the owner. Owners will need to provide this information directly to inquirers rather than working through the testing agency.

Why does the program emphasize the permanent removal of individual high titre cows (HTCs)?
Research has shown that the movement of infected animals from herd to herd is the primary means of movement of the disease. As animals shedding Johne's cannot be detected visually, and test results are confidential, encouraging producers to remove these animals should prevent the introduction of high risk animals into other dairy herds.

Research has also shown that culling of the HTCs speeds up Johne's reduction and the rate of new infection occurrence.

Why do all milking cows on test day have to be tested for the program?
All cows milking are tested on one day to estimate the probability that the herd has Johne's, to semi-quantify the infection pressure on calves and to identify cows with high milk ELISA titres (> 1.0) who are likely to be actively and currently shedding the Johne's organism. Testing of all cows at one time is the best way to achieve these objectives. We are primarily interested in knowing the proportion of cows that test positive. In reality if the test were to be ONLY interpreted at the herd level, the identities of the cows tested would not be needed nor reported. Only the number of cows tested and the number of positive tests would be reported. But, because we have interest in the cows that have strong positive tests (those with results >1.0) we compromise and report the individual cow results. We have to be very careful not to over-interprete the individual cow information that comes on the report.

Why are we testing two-year olds?
Truly infected cattle are more likely to have a positive test result on a Johne's test as they get older. Although truly infected two year olds may frequently have negative tests, test positive two year olds provide important information for the veterinarian and the herd owner. It is important not to miss any opportunities to identify these should they be present in a herd. In the original Johne's project done in 2005 about 15% of all the positive tests occurred in two year old cows.

What about cows that are dry on the test date that a herd is tested? Will they be tested later?
Dry cows will not be tested as part of the program. A herd owner can discuss follow-up with their herd veterinarian, but the costs of testing dry cows will not be reimbursed. It is recommended that herds where Johne's disease is found to be present conduct follow-up testing on dry cows.

I've already tested some cows for Johne's in the past - do I have to do them all again on the program?
Yes. The program will reimburse only for complete herd tests, done at a single test day. Even if some cows have been tested previously they should be tested again.

What is the Animal Health and Johne's Disease Risk Assessment and Management Plan (RAMP)?
The Animal Health and Johne's Disease RAMP is a management questionnaire designed as a tool to help veterinarians and producers systematically examine calf and cow management, looking for problem areas that could allow disease to spread. The MP (management plan) is a set of recommendations for changes to be made that the producer and veterinarian write together.

How long does it take to do the Animal Health and Johne's Disease Risk Assessment and
Management Plan (RAMP) on a farm?
During the pilot project in 2005 to 2007 RAMPs were conducted by Ontario veterinarians and their producer clients on about 500 farms. The first RAMP with a herd owner usually took between 1 to 2 hours to complete. Large farms do not take longer than small farms as the length of the farm consultation is governed by the number of issues in calf management identified and the subsequent discussion over potential solutions.
Follow-up RAMPs took significantly less time.

Who pays for the Animal Health and Johne's Disease Risk Assessment and Management Plan (RAMP) to be done?
The expectation is that the RAMP will be done each year as part of the herd's overall herd health program. Producers will work with their own herd veterinarian. Producers will be responsible for paying their veterinarian for the RAMP consultation.

Is my veterinarian eligible to do my risk assessment?
Veterinarians who have received training in conducting the Johne's RAMP with one of the two OMAFRA veterinary trainers during the Ontario Johne's Prevention program (2005 to 2007) are eligible to do risk assessments for this program. Veterinarians wishing to become trained should contact the Veterinary Science Unit of OMAFRA in Elora. Veterinary training consists of an on-farm training module. Continuing education will be provided through online courses and small group seminars as the program proceeds.

When do I do my Animal Health and Johne's Disease Risk Assessment and Management Plan (RAMP)?
Producers are now required by DFO to do their Animal Health and Johne's Disease Risk Assessment and Management Plan (RAMP) each year, starting in 2010. The RAMP can be done anytime it is convenient for the producer and the herd veterinarian. HOWEVER, it is highly recommended that the year the producer is eligible to test, that the RAMP be done at the next herd health visit (or within the next 60 days) after receiving the Johne's test results. This will allow the producer and the veterinarian to make the best decisions based on test results and get the greatest benefit from the testing program and the RAMP.

How do I know if my veterinarian can do my RAMP?
About 120 veterinary practitioners have already completed Animal Health and Johne's Disease RAMP training as part of the projects that ran in 2005 to 2007 in Ontario. These practitioners are ready to go. Contact your veterinarian to find out if they are trained. For veterinarians that have not yet participated, training can be arranged by contacting Ann Godkin or Jocelyn Jansen of OMAFRA in Elora (519-846-3409 or 519-846-3414 direct lines)

What do veterinarians have to do as their part of the Johne's Program?
Veterinary Activities in the Johne's Program are:

Interpret test results if testing is being done.
Conduct the RAMP with their clients once annually. Bill producers directly as they would for routine herd-health consultations.
Make written recommendations for changes on the farm via the RAMP document.
Sign disposal forms for cows with titres 1.0 or higher once they are disposed of, if done on-farm by the producer through burial or composting. (Renderer's will verify the removal of cows they pick up)
Fax each herd's completed RAMP to the Johne's Project Coordinator.