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The USAHA Johne's Disease Committee
As a committee of the United States Animal Health Association (USAHA),
the Johne's Disease Committee was formed in 1987. The purpose of the
Johne's Disease Committee, as described in the
99th proceedings of the US Animal Health Association ,
is as follows
"The purpose of the Committee on Johne's Disease
is to facilitate control and eventual eradication of paratuberculosis by
providing information and guidance on diagnosis and control of infection to
appropriate federal, state, and industry personnel.
"The committee also provides the latest information to animal diagnostic and
regulatory agencies concerning diagnostic methods for Johne's disease, assists
in helping identify the most sensitive and specific tests available for
paratuberculosis diagnosis, and fosters the establishment of standardized
diagnostic tests including culture and serologic tests for the detection of M.
paratuberculosis.
"The committee identifies the prevalence and economic losses associated with
paratuberculosis infection in ruminants and promulgates distribution of
information on how to best to control and manage the disease."
Formation of the National Johne's Working Group
In 1994, the National Johne's Working Group (NJWG) was formed. According
to the Proceedings of the 99th annual meeting of the USAHA,
the purpose of the National Johne's Working Group was to be a task force
to deal with a single issue:
the relationship of M. Paratuberculosis to Crohn's disease.
It would appear that USAHA realized that the issue of MAP
infecting humans through cattle-derived foods and causing Crohn's disease could
be a very damaging one, as control of the National Johne's Working Group
was given to representatives of the animal industries.
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"With many important ramifications for both the
USAHA and producer groups, the chair of the Johne's Committee and the president
of the USAHA, Dr. Wes Towers, agreed it would be prudent to have the task force,
later to be called the National Johne's Working Group (NJWG) appointed by the
President of the USAHA. During a meeting of the USAHA executive committee in
Washington, DC at the National Cattleman's Association office on February 28,
1994, Dr. Wes Towers, President USAHA, appointed John Adams (National Milk
Producer's Federation), Gary Weber (National Cattleman's Association) and Robert
Whitlock (Chair Johne's Committee) as co-chairs of the National Johne's Working
Group (NJWG)."
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John Adams represents the
National Milk Producers Federation,
a registered group of political lobbyists which represents the interests of the
U.S. dairy industry in Washington, D.C.
Gary Weber represents the
National Cattleman's Beef Association,
a group which represents the political interests of the U.S. beef industry in
Washington. Gary Weber was the beef industry representative on the now infamous
Oprah Winfrey show about Mad Cow Disease.
NJWG's Failure to Meet Objectives Regarding Crohn's Disease
Many of PARA's concerns are discussed in
Karen Meyer's report
of PARA's attendance at the 1997 USAHA meeting, and in
Cheryl Miller's speech
at the October 1998 USAHA meeting.
The purpose for which the National Johne's Working Group (NJWG) was
formed was very specific:- to be a "task force on the relationship
between MAP and Crohn's disease". Although the original purpose
of the NJWG was only to investigate the relationship between M.
paratuberculosis and Crohn's disease, the current work being carried out by
the NJWG has nothing to do with Crohn's disease.
The NJWG stated objectives in 1995, according to the Proceedings of the 99th annual meeting of the USAHA, are stated below.
PARA's Comments are stated below each of those objectives.
Let us now examine how the NJWG has addressed its primary function, which
is to investigate the relationship between MAP and Crohn's disease. We
will discuss the objectives one by one.
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"NJWG will evaluate information suggesting M. paratuberculosis is a zoonotic
pathogen and assess the likelihood that animals serve as a reservoir of
infection."
PARA's Comment: Although it has been
clearly demonstrated that the MAP bacteria found in Crohn's disease patients
originated in cattle, the NJWG has done absolutely nothing to fulfill this
objective.
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"NJWG will evaluate the potential for the organism to contaminate foods of
animal origin."
PARA's Comment: MAP can infect a
variety of different foods derived from cattle, i.e. milk, cheese (which can
be made from raw milk), ice-cream, butter, yogurt, infant formula, powdered
milk, beef steaks, ground beef, beef offal (kidney, liver, tongue, etc), and
numerous other foods. In 1996 the NJWG organized research at the
USDA-Agricultural Research Service
to study one method of food treatment, namely HTST milk pasteurization. The
research conducted by those researchers is highly controversial.
Furthermore, it should be noted that this research was FUNDED IN PART BY THE DAIRY
INDUSTRY. (See the USDA - ARS Page
for details.)
The NJWG has ignored all other foods that could
potentially contain MAP. (For a discussion of these possible
contamination routes, please read the pages
"MAP in retail dairy supplies"
and MAP in
retail beef.)
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"NJWG will identify and encourage research needed to develop a strategy for a
control and herd certification program."
PARA's Comment: This is a duplication of
the work of the
Johne's Disease Committee,
and is irrelevant to the question of whether or not M. paratuberculosis
causes Crohn's disease.
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"NJWG will evaluate the domestic and international economic impacts of
Johne's disease and develop recommendations for updating currently suggested
good management practices which can be employed by producers to prevent entry
and spread of the infection in livestock populations."
PARA's Comment: This is a
duplication of the work of the
Johne's
Disease Committee, and is irrelevant to the
question of whether or not M. paratuberculosis causes Crohn's disease.
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"NJWG will develop a set of policy objectives and goals to enhance
development and implementation of the strategy for a Johne's disease control
and herd certification program. "
PARA's Comment: This is a
duplication of the work of the
Johne's
Disease Committee, and is irrelevant to the
question of whether or not M. paratuberculosis causes Crohn's disease.
By duplicating the work of the Johne's Disease Committee in Objectives 3,
4 and 5, the NJWG has neglected and drawn attention away from its
main purpose, which is to be a task force to investigate the
relationship between M. paratuberculosis and Crohn's disease.
This point was noted in the
99th Proceedings of the US Animal Health Association,
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"Discussion centered around the expanded role of the NJWG and the Johne's
Committee. Many members believed the NJWG with their broadly based objectives
has assumed many objectives of the Johne's Committee as described in the purpose
statement for the committee."
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"Disappearance" of NJWG's Mission Statement
Since 1997, PARA has been reminding the NJWG of their mission statement
and objectives. Is it a coincidence that one year after PARA began
watching over the NJWG's shoulder that this mission statement
"disappeared" from their website? As of 2003, that mission statement
is still missing. In fact,
USAHA's NJWG Mission Statement
Page on the USAHA website is blank, with a notice,
"This page is still under construction 7/3/99)".
Even though it has "disappeared" from their website, apparently the NJWG
and Johne's Disease Committee at the 2002 USAHA meeting considered
the mission statement an issue that needs to be addressed. In the 2002
Report of the
Committee on Johne's Disease, (Page 13), it states that a NJWG
Steering Committee will be appointed to:
1. Evaluate the mission statement and objectives for the NJWG.
2. Evaluate research priorities.
3. Develop a strategic plan for the Johne's Working Group.
4. Adjust the mission statement for the NJWG as needed.
As of March 2003, the "dangling" mission statement has not been revised by the
NJWG. When and if this is done, we will report it on this webpage.
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