MC-E has been involved in drafting

the manuscript and in the final approval of the version to be published following a critical review thereof. MJB was responsible for the original design of the study and participated in its further design and development as well as having been involved in drafting the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.”
“Background Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) is a proven enteric pathogen with a wide host range that includes many domestic and wild animals [1]. It is the causal agent of Johne’s disease (JD) in animals which is particularly common in countries with significant dairy industries leading to considerable economic losses [2]. MAP can BMS202 purchase infect, disseminate and persist in humans and has been suggested as a contributory factor in the development of Crohn’s disease [3].

MAP vaccines are a major tool used in the control of JD in animals and can be highly profitable [4]. They have advantages over herd management [5] and culling strategies Temozolomide order [6] in being more cost efficient, easier to implement on a wide scale and less reliant on diagnostic testing. It is clear however, that although able to prevent a majority of animals from reaching onset of clinical disease, their current formulations provide incomplete protection Vadimezan against infection and shedding [7–9], thus failing to eradicate the organism [10]. Most current whole cell vaccine preparations rely on subcultures of classic strains that were generated over 70 years ago [11] and some evidence suggests that, for killed preparations

at least, more recently acquired local virulent strain types may be more effective [12]. Previous experience with BCG has shown that frequent in vitro passage of strains in different laboratories led to significant PJ34 HCl alterations in genomic profiles and diversities in attenuation and immunogenicity [13]. It is of importance therefore to derive accurate definitions of MAP vaccine genotypes to better standardize vaccine manufacture and understand the critical mechanisms determining vaccine attenuations and protective efficacies. The distribution and worldwide use of MAP vaccines has continued since live ‘attenuated’ strains were selected in France (1924) and the UK (1940) using a method of sequential passage similar to that applied for the generation of BCG [14]. The degree and mechanism underlying their attenuation however is uncertain as virulence studies were not performed in any detail. Concerns in the 1980’s regarding the use of live vaccine strains because of low shelf life and spread to the environment promoted the use of killed vaccine formulations. These were based on various combinations of three MAP strains comprising strain 2e from the UK, strain II from Canada and 316 F.