02041nas a2200337   4500000000100000000000100001008004100002260007000043653001400113653002100127653001800148653001800166653001000184653000900194653001800203100001300221700001200234700001400246700001600260700001300276700001200289700001200301700001700313700001900330245015300349250000800502300001200510490000800522520115900530022001401689       2016                            d  c07/2016bSchlütersche Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KGaHannover10adairy cow10aParatuberculosis10areal-time PCR10aMAP screening10afeces10amilk10aNorth Germany1 aA Alajmi1 aG Klein1 aM Greiner1 aN Grabowski1 aS Fohler1 aA Campe1 aT Scheu1 aM Hoedemaker1 aA Abdulmawjood00aPotential role of real-time PCR for detecting Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in chronically diseased milking cows: a case control study  a7/8  a304-3090 v1293 aParatuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) is economically important to dairy operations. In the present study, a real-time PCR kit (certified for use in Germany) was used to detect MAP in bovine fecal and milk samples within a case control study examining different factors for their association with chronic disease in Northern Germany. The aim of this study was to describe the suitability of the MAP real-time PCR kit to detect MAP in feces and milk of chronically diseased dairy cows. For MAP detection a total of 928 fecal, 922 composite foremilk, and 92 bulk milk samples obtained from 58 cases and 5 control dairy herds were investigated. The real-time PCR showed MAP positive results for 11 (18.96%) and 6 (17.10%) of the case and control herds, respectively. All bulk milk samples were MAP negative. The results of fecal and milk samples were moderately correlated (kappa = 0.27). These data indicate that real-time PCR results have diagnostic value for diagnosing MAP positive animals, and that fecal samples are more suitable than milk samples for assessing the reasons for chronic disease on dairy farms.  a0005-9366