Investigation of the effect of cytokines on Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis and implications for Johne’s disease control

Johne’s disease (JD) is a chronic gut disease which affects a large number of animals causing
significant economic and animal welfare concerns. In order to design effective vaccines to prevent
disease we must first understand the changes that occur within infected animals. We propose to
study the cells that are associated with the chronic inflammation that is seen in the gut. There are
established links between JD in cattle and Crohn’s disease in humans. Both Crohn’s disease and JD
have chronic inflammation in the gut and parallels can be drawn from studies in cattle to aid
understanding of human disease.