The Animal Health Laboratory within the Colorado Department of Agriculture is assisting in a trial of Actiphage®, a new rapid...
Arden Farms first to test deer for Johne’s Disease using Actiphage
Arden Farms are the first to use the Actiphage blood test to test their herd of Red Deer for Johne’s Disease. This wasting condition is difficult to detect as it can lay dormant in the animal for many years until it is triggered by stress.
Arden Farms, near Market Rasen in Lincolnshire, has 450 hinds and followers. The deer are fed on grass or home-grown silage and the venison is very tender and nutritious.
Farmer Sarah Arden explains that Johne’s Disease is difficult to diagnose. “Deer can be infected with Johne’s Disease for many years without showing any symptoms, so it can be in the herd, but you don’t know about it.
“It is thought that by the time the animal is showing symptoms it is already shedding the bacteria in its faeces which then creates an infection risk for other animals.
“There is an Elisa test that can be used to diagnose Johne’s Disease in deer, that detects antibody responses. The sensitivity of these tests in the early stages of infection are not good, so it often only gives a positive result once the deer is showing clinical signs of the disease.”
Arden Farms were invited to take part in research being carried by the University of Nottingham on behalf of PBD Biotech, developers of the Actiphage blood test.
The study, published in the Frontiers in Veterinary Science, showed that Actiphage reliably identified Johne’s Disease at an early stage of infection. These insights can enable the farmer to isolate the infected animals and restrict the progression of the disease through the herd.
Sarah says: “Actiphage is a useful tool for detecting carriers of the disease. It can identify live bacteria in the blood at very low levels.
“The research showed that a small group of older hinds were carrying the mycobacteria that causes Johne’s Disease. We thought this was such a useful thing to know that we tested the whole herd and removed the carriers to eradicate the disease from the herd.
“We now use Actiphage to test deer before we introduce them to the herd, so we can maintain a disease-free status.
“We chose the deer for their conformation, temperament and now we can select those without Johne’s. The vet can easily fit the blood test along with other procedures to check the health of the animals.”
Actiphage is now being used routinely by Arden Farms to keep it free of Johne’s Disease.
Read more about the development of a rapid method for detection of Johne’s disease in blood samples from farmed deer on the Research page.
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