Johne's disease: reliability of environmental sampling to characterize Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) infection in beef cow-calf herds.

Environmental samples are considered to be a cost-effective method of identifying Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP)-positive dairy herds, but evidence for beef cow-calf herds is weak. This study aims at evaluating this approach in a total of 20 German herds that were characterized by individual faecal samples (n = 2545) of all cows. For 14 MAP-positive herds having at least one MAP-positive animal, the within-herd prevalence was calculated from concurrent individual faecal culture-based testing. Six herds certified as 'MAP free' based on the negative results of previous years served as MAP-negative controls. On average, six environmental samples were taken at the end of winter from areas with high cow traffic and tested for MAP by faecal culture. According to the environmental samples, nine (64·3%) out of the 14 MAP-positive cow-calf herds were infected. The percentage of positive environmental samples and the apparent within-herd prevalence (Spearman's P = 0·73, P < 0·001) as well as the herd-level test results (positive and negative) and the herd's status based on individual testing (Fisher's exact test, P = 0·014) showed a positive association. Considering limitations in low-prevalence herds, MAP-positive beef cow-calf herds are detectable by environmental samples in temperate climate zones.