Publications

divergent cytokine responses of macrophages to mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis strains of types ii and iii in a standardized in vitro model.	based on epidemiological and clinical observations, different strains of mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (map) are suspected to significantly differ in their virulence for ruminants. in the pathogenesis of paratuberculosis, macrophages represent the principal target cell for map. in order to judge the ability of different map-genotypes to modulate macrophage responses, the cytokine responses of the monocyte cell line thp-1 were studied after challenge with three different map strains ...	2011	21555192
evaluation of two mutants of mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis as candidates for a live attenuated vaccine for johne's disease.	control of johne's disease, caused by mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis, has been difficult because of a lack of an effective vaccine. to address this problem we used targeted gene disruption to develop candidate mutants with impaired capacity to survive ex vivo and in vivo to test as a vaccine. we selected rela and pkng, genes known to be important virulence factors in mycobacterium tuberculosis and mycobacterium bovis, for initial studies. deletion mutants were made in a wild type ma ...	2011	21565243
prevalence of paratuberculosis infection in dairy cattle in northern italy.	paratuberculosis is a chronic granulomatous infection caused by mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (map) that affects multiple ruminant species causing important economic losses. therefore, control programmes at herd and regional levels have been established worldwide and prevalence estimates are needed for their implementation. although different herd-level prevalence estimations for paratuberculosis have been reported in europe, very few studies provided comparable and interpretable v ...	2011	21807432
predicting fadeout versus persistence of paratuberculosis in a dairy cattle herd for management and control purposes: a modelling study.	abstract: epidemiological models enable to better understand the dynamics of infectious diseases and to assess ex-ante control strategies. for mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (map), possible transmission routes have been described, but map spread in a herd and the relative importance of the routes are currently insufficiently understood to prioritize control measures. we aim to predict early after map introduction in a dairy cattle herd whether infection is likely to fade out or pers ...	2011	21324117
evaluation of the in vitro activity of gallium nitrate against mycobacterium avium subsp paratuberculosis.	to evaluate the in vitro susceptibility of various field isolates of mycobacterium avium subsp paratuberculosis (map) to gallium nitrate.	2011	21879983
experimental infection of a bovine model with human isolates of mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis.	mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (map), the etiologic agent of johne's disease (jd) in ruminants, has been implicated in the pathogenesis of crohn's disease (cd) in humans. we developed a bovine ileal cannulation model to facilitate comparison of the immune response to map and the mechanisms of pathogenesis in cattle and humans. initial studies showed a t cannula could be maintained for up to a year in calves without inducing inflammation or adversely affecting intestinal function. ma ...	2011	21477870
[new vaccine for paratuberculosis reduces fecal shedding].		2011	22111420
immunogenicity and protective efficacy of the mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis attenuated mutants against challenge in a mouse model.	johne's disease (jd), caused by mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (map), results in serious economic losses worldwide especially in cattle, sheep and goats. to control the impact of jd on the animal industry, an effective vaccine with minimal adverse effects is urgently required. in order to develop an effective vaccine, we used allelic exchange to construct three mutant map strains, leud, mpt64 and seca2. the mutants were attenuated in a murine model and induced cytokine responses in ...	2011	22107851
paratuberculosis in european wild rabbits from the iberian peninsula.	of the non-ruminant wildlife species known to harbor mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis (map), the rabbit (oryctolagus cuniculus) is thought to pose the greatest risk of transmission to cattle. we analyzed 80 hunter-harvested wild rabbits from a core study area in southern spain, and sera from 157 wild rabbits sampled opportunistically on seven additional sites. gross lesions compatible with paratuberculosis were observed in two of 80 necropsied rabbits. histopathology revealed focal to diffus ...	2011	21367439
mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in dairy products, meat, and drinking water.	mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (map) is the cause of johne's disease, a chronic infection of the gut, in ruminant animals that provide milk and/or meat for human consumption. map also may be involved in crohn's disease and type 1 diabetes in humans. although the role of map in human diseases has not been established, minimizing the exposure of humans to the organism is considered desirable as a precautionary measure. infected animals can shed map in feces and milk, and the organism ...	2011	21375889
Effectiveness of combination of Mini-and Microsatellite loci to sub-type Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis Italian type C isolates.	Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Map) is the etiological agent of paratuberculosis. The aim of our study was to combine Mini-and Microsatellite loci analysis in order to explore the effectiveness of this sub-typing method in a group of Map isolates. For this purpose, 84 Italian Type C Map isolates, each from a different cattle herd, were submitted to MIRU-Variable-Number Tandem-Repeats (VNTRs) typing and Short Sequence repeats (SSRs) sequencing. Moreover, the method was used to analy ...	2011	21929793
the johne's paradigm: from detection to management to treatment.		2011	21778821