On deaf ears_Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis in pathogenesis Crohn's and other diseases..pdf

On deaf ears, Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis in pathogenesis Crohn’s and other diseases
William C Davis

World Journal of Gastroenterology

The historic suggestion that Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP ) might be a zoonotic pathogen was based on the apparent similarity of lesions in the intestine of patients with Crohn’s disease (CD) with those present in cattle infected with MAP, the etiological agent of Johne’s disease. Reluctance to fully explore this possibility has been attributed to the difficulty in demonstrating the presence of Map in tissues from patients with CD. Advances in technology have resolved this problem and revealed the presence of Map in a significant proportion of patients with CD and other diseases.