Popular search terms
  • Biosecurity toolkit
  • Contact us
  • What is biosecurity?
  • Farm Biosecurity Program
  • Plant pest responses
  • Animal disease response
  • Farm profiler
  • Toolkit
  • Subscribe
  • About
    • About the Farm Biosecurity Program
    • Emergency animal disease responses
    • Emergency plant pest responses
  • Essentials
    • Farm inputs
    • Farm outputs
    • Ferals & weeds
      • Wild dog biosecurity
    • People, vehicles & equipment
    • Production practices
    • Train, plan & record
    • Videos
  • Toolkit
    • Gate sign
    • Create your own biosecurity kit
    • Declarations
    • FarmBiosecurity app
    • Manuals
    • On-farm biosecurity planning
    • Records
  • Crops
    • Cotton
      • Cotton best management practice
      • Cotton product management
      • Cotton pests
    • Feed mills
    • Fruit & nuts
      • Fruit & nut pests
        • Apple and pear pests
        • Avocado pests
        • Banana pests
        • Cherry pests
        • Citrus pests
        • Mango pests
        • Nut pests
        • Papaya pests
        • Summerfruit pests
      • Fruit & nut product management
    • Grains
      • Grains pests
      • Grains product management
      • Grain storage options
    • Honey bees
      • BeeAware website and newsletter
      • Code of Practice and National Bee Biosecurity Program
      • Honey bee glossary
      • Honey bee product management
      • Honey bee pests
      • Honey bee best management practice
      • Beekeeper advisory – mosquito insecticide control during the 2022 Japanese encephalitis outbreak
    • Nursery & garden
      • Nursery & garden pests
      • Nursery & garden product management
      • Nursery & garden best management practice
    • Onions
      • Onion pest threats
      • Onion pest eradication or control examples
    • Plantation forestry
      • Forestry biosecurity practices
      • Forestry pests
      • Hypothetical exotic bark beetle incursion
      • Plantation forestry quality assurance
    • Potatoes
      • Potato pest threats
      • Potato biosecurity areas
    • Sugarcane
      • Sugarcane best management practice
      • Sugarcane biosecurity essentials
      • Queensland Sugarcane Biosecurity Zones
      • Sugarcane pests and weeds
    • Vegetables
      • Vegetable pests
      • Vegetable product management
    • Viticulture
      • Phylloxera
      • Viticulture pests
      • Viticulture product management
  • Livestock
    • Alpacas
    • Beef cattle
    • Chickens
    • Dairy cattle
    • Ducks
    • Eggs
    • Feed mills
    • Goats
    • Lot feeding
    • Horses
      • Mosquito Management for Horses
    • New and emerging livestock industries
    • Pigs
      • Feeding your pigs
      • Controlling mosquitoes around piggeries
    • Sheep
    • Zoo animals
  • Get help
    • Animal health and biosecurity extension
      • Property biosecurity management planning
  • News
    • E-newsletter
    • Subscribe to Farm Biosecurity News
  • Stories
  • Videos

Johne’s Disease in Cattle: Reducing Risk Through Good Biosecurity Practices  

Print this page
  • Home
  • News
  • Johne’s Disease in Cattle: Reducing Risk Through Good Biosecurity Practices  

Johne’s Disease in Cattle: Reducing Risk Through Good Biosecurity Practices  

Johne’s dsease (JD) is characterised by chronic wasting of the animal, eventually leading to death, the disease has been seen in cattle, sheep, goats, deer and camelids in Australia and is a notifiable disease across all states and territories. It is caused by a bacterium, Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis. 

JD affects the animal’s intestines and causes thickening of the bowel wall that inhibits the animals’ ability to absorb nutrients from their food. This leads to the chronic wasting associated with the disease. In cattle specifically, common signs of JD present as diarrhoea and bottle jaw as well as weight loss despite good appetite. Signs of disease often appear after stressful events, such as calving, poor nutrition, or heavy milk production. 

Calves are likely to be exposed to the bacteria from infected adult cows through faeces, colostrum, and/or milk. Infection tends to occur in cattle less than 12 months of age, particularly in those less than three months old. It is possible for calves to become infected in utero, however, this is uncommon and only likely to occur if the pregnant cow is already showing signs of JD.  

Due to its long incubation period, clinical disease can remain unapparent until the affected animal is at least four or five years of age. While infected, the bacteria are shed in the cow’s manure, contaminating the environment before any clinical signs of the disease are apparent. However, animals showing clinical signs of JD remain the greatest contaminators of the environment. 

In order to mitigate the risk of spreading JD, it is imperative to develop and implement an effective farm biosecurity plan. By following a structured plan for biosecurity measures, the risk of disease exposure overall is decreased. For a helpful checklist regarding JD in cattle, visit the Animal Health Australia website for our ‘Biosecurity checklist – Johne’s Disease in Cattle’.   

Introduction of new stock on-farm is the main way that disease may enter a herd, so introducing low-risk stock onto the property with a management plan is the best prevention strategy. By only buying, selling or agisting high-assurance cattle such as those with a Johne’s Beef Assurance Score (J-BAS) of six or higher and insisting that the animals come with a National Cattle Heath Declaration, you can help reduce the risk of disease significantly.  

Make sure your herd is more resistant to disease through good nutrition and parasite control. Pay particular attention to animals that are failing to thrive – this could be an early warning sign of JD. Quarantine and investigate any animals showing signs of JD and report anything suspicious to your local vet for investigation. 

Vaccination of cattle with Silirum® should be considered in herds with JD present. This inactivated (killed) vaccine can be used in addition to disease management practices relating for JD. Producers wanting to use the vaccine in their cattle should consult with their vet, check with their state Department of Primary Industries (or equivalent) about any state/territory requirements surrounding administration, and follow the label requirements for permanent identification of vaccinates. 

For more information about JD, talk to your private or local government veterinarian or visit: https://animalhealthaustralia.com.au/johnes-disease/  

Read the latest information on
Foot-and-mouth disease

Read the latest information on
Lumpy skin disease

Read the latest information on
Japanese encephalitis

Subscribe to our newsletter

Farm Biosecurity News

Use our profiler to make your

Biosecurity Toolkit

Latest News
  • 30 June 2022

    Q&A with three producers who attended the 2nd Australian Biosecurity Symposium
  • 30 June 2022

    Is your livestock feed illegal?
  • 29 June 2022

    Is your field day a biosecurity risk?
  • 29 June 2022

    Banana freckle detected in the Northern Territory
  • 31 May 2022

    Lambing workshop held in May

Emergency Animal Disease Watch Hotline
1800 675 888

Exotic Plant Pest Hotline
1800 084 881

The FarmBiosecurity app

  • Contact us
  • Copyright
  • Privacy & Disclaimer
  • Sitemap
  • Website by Morph Digital