Detection of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in an Egyptian mixed breeding farm and comparative molecular characterisation of isolates from cattle, camels and cats – a case report

The present study records and investigates an outbreak of Johne’s Disease in a mixed breeding camel – cattle farm and the possible role of non-domestic non-ruminants animals in the epidemiology of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis in Egypt. For this reason, faecal samples were collected from 24 dairy cattle and from 15 one humped Arabian camels suffering from diarrhoea. Moreover, intestinal tissue samples were provided from 7 cats and 2 rats that were caught from the same farm and were euthanized before necropsy. Samples were examined using traditional culture and IS900 PCR techniques together with the application of BstEII-IS900 RFLP for typing of obtained isolates. Interestingly, MAP was recovered from cattle (n=8) and from camels (n=3) and non-domestic cats (n=3) reared under local conditions in this farm in Egypt. The obtained results highlight the potential role of cats in the epidemiology of MAP, a subject which needs further investigation and might have a public health importance, catsbeing common members of many families.