02113nas a2200193   4500000000100000000000100001008004100002260007000043653004800113653003000161653002000191653001900211653002500230100001200255245008900267490000800356520154100364022001401905       2016                            d  c04/2016bSchlütersche Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KGaHannover10aMycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis10aherd certification status10aMAP-non suspect10afaecal culture10acumulative incidence1 aK Donat00aThe Thuringian bovine paratuberculosis control programme – results and experiences0 v1293 aThis study aimed at evaluating the results achieved in voluntary paratuberculosis control in cattle herds in Thuringia, a federal state of Germany, between 2008 and 2014. A total of 76 dairy herds and 29 beef cow-calf herds were involved in the analysis. Cumulative incidence (CI) was used to monitor the control progress; new cases were detected by means of annual testing of the herd’s cows by individual faecal culture for Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP). Herds with at least one positive test result were classified as MAP-positive, while herds without any detection of MAP during three consecutive years were certified as MAP-non suspect. Compared to the MAP-positive ones, herds tested negative at the beginning of the program had a higher chance of achieving this certification by 2014. 13 out of 67 initially MAP-positive herds (19.4%) were certified according to the control programme. In a subset of 25 MAP-positive dairy herds that had been involved since 2008, CI decreased significantly from 14.0 to 5.6% in 2014. Regarding the initial situation in 2008, control progress was significantly higher in herds with CI  gt; 5% compared to herds with CI  lt; 5% as shown by two-way ANOVA. The results support the hypothesis that control of paratuberculosis is feasible at herd level. A herd monitoring based on faecal culture tests and a certification period of three years seem to be adequate to justify the status MAP non-suspect. Once herds achieve a low level of CI, control efforts should be intensified.  a0005-9366