Assessment of Dietzia Subsp. C79793-74 for Treatment of Cattle with Evidence of Paratuberculosis

The objective of the present investigation was to determine whether the bacterium Dietzia subsp. C79793-74, previously shown to inhibit growth of Mycobacterium subsp. paratuberculosis under in vitro culture conditions, has therapeutic value as a probiotic for adult cattle with paratuberculosis.  Animals were obtained from several herds with evidence of disease based on seropositivity and/or fecal shedding.  Sixty-eight cows with initial evidence of Stage II or III paratuberculosis and 2 with an initial Stage IV disease were evaluated longitudinally.  Animals were either treated daily with variable, disease-dependent doses of Dietzia (n = 48) or left untreated (n = 22).  Clinical aspects of disease (diarrhea, emaciated, cachectic and appetite) were recorded until the animal recovered or required euthanasia due to advanced clinical paratuberculosis or other severe conditions.  Paratuberculosis parameters-antibody serology (ELISA, AGID) and fecal culture-were longitudinally monitored over the lifetime of each animal.  The results indicated that daily treatment with Dietzia was therapeutic for paratuberculosis cows based on: (a) longitudinal decline in ELISA values only occurred in animals that were treated; (b) prolonged survival was dependant upon treatment--the length being directly associated with low initial ELISA values; and (c) treated animals were the only ones cured of disease.  Further investigations are envisaged to determine optimal, long-term dosages that may result in even better therapeutic outcomes as well as to evaluate potential application for therapy of the Johne's disease, human-counterpart, Crohn's disease.