Morphological Considerations in the Pathogenesis of Paratuberculosis in Goats

Paratuberculosis is a chronic granulomatous enteritis and lymphadenitis in ruminants caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberuclosis . To investigate the efficacy of assays for early diagnosis, experimental infections were performed in goat kids. Oral doses of M. a. paratuberculosis were administered to goat kids over extended periods and the resulting infection was followed for 12–24 months. Complementary experiments were performed on goat kids vaccinated against M. a. paratuberculosis . Immunological, pathological and morphological examinations were undertaken in both these experimental systems. The analysis of results from these experiment series provided novel insights into the influence of the biology of gut-associated lymphoid tissue on the progress of disease, into the character of the tissue granuloma and its dominance of the local tissue response and into the relationship between the local and systemic immune responses.