Evaluation of 'cattle' and 'Indian Bison' type antigens of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis for diagnosis of bovine Johne's disease using 'indigenous ELISA' and AGPT.

Two antigens ('cattle' type and 'Indian Bison' type) of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis were evaluated for diagnosis of Johne's disease (JD) in a gaushala (cattle herd). Of the 160 cows of Sahiwal and Hariana breeds screened, 81 (50.6%) tested positive in ELISA and 66 (41.8%) in AGPT test. Using the two antigens, 33.5% tested positive in both the tests while 41.1% tested negative. Exclusively, only 8.2% tested positive in ELISA while 17.1% tested positive in AGPT. Two antigens together detected 58.9% prevalence of MAP in the gaushala. Individually, indigenous ELISA using antigen from native source of MAP proved superior to AGPT in the diagnosis of JD in cows.