Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (Map) is an important pathogen

that causes a chronic, progressive granulomatous enteritis known as Johnes disease

or paratuberculosis. The disease is endemic in many parts of theworld and responsible
for considerable losses to the livestock and associated industries. Diagnosis and
control are problematic, due mostly to the long incubation period of the disease when
infected animals show no clinical signs and are difficult to detect, and the ability of the
organism to survive and persist in the environment. The existence of phenotypically
distinct strains of Map has been known since the 1930s but the genetic differentiation
of Map strain types has been challenging and only recent technologies have proven
sufficiently discriminative for strain comparisons, tracing the sources of infection and
epidemiological studies. It is important to understand the differences that exist
between Map strains and how they influence both development and transmission of
disease. This information is required to develop improved diagnostics and effective
vaccines for controlling Johnes disease. Here I review the current classification of Map
strain types, the sources of the genetic variability within strains, growth characteristics
and epidemiological traits associated with strain type and the influence of strain type
oninfection and pathogenicity.