Fuidi herd management and risk stratification methods

Abstract

The invention concerns the detection of pathogenic mycobacterium comprising Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Map) and genomic variants in a bulk milk sample, and more particularly a method for herd management that stratifies the risk of bulk tank milk lots derived from diagnostic-tested subgroups potentially containing DNA from pathogenic mycobacterium including Map. The method involves creating defined risk groups (categories) of milk-producing animals, such as dairy cows, for the presence of Map or related genomic variants in their milk. Another aspect of the invention concerns a method to strengthen the ability of milk-producing animals to resist environmental challenges by Map based on identifying those animals that have and maintain a low antibody level to Map using their female progeny as replacement animals.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13 / 690,530, filed Nov. 30, 2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,128,098, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13 / 665,576, filed Oct. 31, 2012, now abandoned, which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety, including any figures, tables, nucleic acid sequences, amino acid sequences, and drawings.[0002]The Sequence Listing for this application is labeled “Seq-List.txt” which was created on Dec. 24, 2014 and is 63 KB. The entire contents of the sequence listing are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]Paratuberculosis (Johne's disease) is caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Map), a facultative intracellular, acid-fast bacillus, and affects ruminants worldwide. In the United States, the disease causes the industry economic losses estimated at $200 and 250 million. The c...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent text describes a system called FUIDI that can be used to improve the genetic ability of livestock to withstand environmental challenges. By continuously using the system and keeping certain animals, the herd becomes better at facing these challenges. The technical effect is a more resilient herd that can better handle environmental challenges.

Problems solved by technology

However, neither the Map ELISA manufacturers nor USDA have publically defined the significance of a “negative” Map test.

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