Project Number: 1265-32000-078-04
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Sep 30, 2004
End Date: Sep 29, 2009

Objective:
The objective of this research is to identify and characterize a third dairy herd to be included in a Pilot Program that currently consists of two dairy herds and which focuses on the protocol development, laboratory set-up, program logistics, and database and bio-bank development needed to evaluatesuch that the impact of intervention strategies on Johne's disease dynamics, milk and beef quality (particularly with respect to zoonotic bacterial pathogens), economics and sustainability can be evaluated through intensive longitudinal follow up of selected research/demonstration dairy farms. Long-term goals are to validate intervention strategies to support best management practices (BMPs) and to optimize intervention and monitoring strategies given the constraints on time, labor and financial resources in modern dairy herds. In addition, a national resource bank (data and biological specimens on well-characterized animals) will be created for current and future monitoring and research on dairy cattle diseases. Emphasis will be on longitudinal data collection on endemic infectious diseases of public health and animal health concern in dairy herds.

Approach:
Pathogens are of increasing concern on dairy farms and in dairy products. The production of safe and wholesome food from US farms requires control of the production process on the farm. Specific focus areas in this process are biosecurity, food safety and animal health. To be able to scientifically support regional process control programs there is a need for longitudinal research on commercial dairy farms throughout the United States. In the past year, Cornell University, The Pennsylvania State University, and the University of Pennsylvania, which are all participants in the Regional Dairy Quality Management Alliance (RDQMA), have collaborated with the USDA's Environmental Microbial Safety Laboratory to investigate 2 operating dairy farms to determine sites that act as reservoirs for pathogenic microorganisms that affect animal health and that decrease product quality because of their zoonotic nature. Farms in Vermont (also an RDQMA member) will be identified as candidates for inclusion in this investigation and 1 will be chosen for extensive sampling based on the previous occurrence of Johne's disease and/or Salmonella infection. Serum, feces, bulk tank milk, and environmental samples (water, bird and rodent feces, feed, etc.) will be taken on the farm. In addition, tissue samples will be obtained from carcasses of culled animals. Samples will be distributed among the university and ARS researchers for analysis to determine the presence of Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis (the causative agent of Johne's disease in cattle) and for Salmonella enterica, Escherichia coli O157:H7, and Listeria monocytogenes (human food-borne pathogens of concern in dairy products). This research will be the first to attempt a comprehensive analysis of both Johne's disease and food-borne pathogens on working dairy farms. It will allow us to determine a baseline for these organisms on 3 farms and set the stage for investigation of the effect of interventions, in the form of BMPs, on animal health and product quality.