MAP (Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis) as the cause of Crohn’s disease has been part of scientific investigation for over 80 years. Although genetic predisposition, abnormal autoimmune reaction and the body’s reaction to infectious diseases such as the measles virus, have been cited as contributing to Crohn’s, more and more evidence suggests that MAP is a very strong candidate for causing Crohn’s.
Crohn’s is a painful inflammatory and debilitating disease that attacks the intestinal tract. In its chronic stage, surgery often occurs to correct such abnormalities as fissures and fistulas in the bowel. Patients suffer from diarrhea and lose body mass because of the intestine’s inability to absorb protein and calories. Recent studies have found that MAP, which causes Johne’s Disease in cattle, is present in DNA and RNA probes of Crohn’s patients. Cattle with Johne’s Disease suffer the same symptoms as Crohn’s patients, and scientists have discovered that Crohn’s patients go into remission when they are given the same drug therapy as that administrated to cattle suffering from Johne’s disease.
Johne’s Disease in cattle is spreading rapidly across northern Europe and North America, and the incidence of Crohn’s is increasing at an alarming rate, with the bulk of those with Crohn’s being in the 15 to 25 year-old age bracket.
We can no longer afford to ignore the evidence of a correlation between MAP in cattle and Crohn’s. MAP has been found in pasteurized milk from Johne’s Disease infected dairy cattle. This alone should alert governmental officials of the need for more stringent testing of possible correlation between infection in animals and similar infection in humans.
