Pathogen that causes disease in cattle also associated with Crohn's disease

Great information, and it's good to see a bit of publicity on the subject.

It has been known since the time that Crohn "discovered" the disease in the 1930's that this looked a lot like the work of a pathogen. Crohn himself thought it was tuberculosis of the colon, but could never culture out any organisms. Of course, that was 30-50 years before the organisms that cause Johne's disease could be reliably cultured.

Study after study have correlated the two, but the question remains: does the MAP reside in the colon because of the damage, or does the damage result from the presence of the bacterium? Or does MAP have a relationship with other bacteria, causing disease?

There are many, many unanswered questions. Lots of people have tried to treat the disease with antibiotics specific to mycobacteria, and there have been only a tiny number of successes- most of which should probably be heavily qualified, as who knows what happens to them 5-10 years down the line. The bacterium is found in milk, cheese, probably meat, and in the water where farm runoff occurs. Chlorine in the water doesn't kill all of it, even after hours of exposure.

And MAP may also cause rheumatoid arthritis (also treated with Humira and Remicade- sound familiar?), and maybe even diabetes. This is a huge health problem, and we've toyed with it far too long! Bring in the science to bear.