author(s)
Adil Majid Bhat, HU Malik, SV Singh, Tufail Hussain, KK Chaubhey, MS Mir, Sabia Qureshi, ZA Kashoo, Showkat-ul-Nabi, Manzoor-ur-Rehman, Rather Waseem Yousuf and Syed Ishfaq Qadri

abstract
Present study first time determined bio-prevalence of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) infection in sheep population of Ganderbal district of Kashmir valley. A total of 288 faecal samples (260 sheep and 28 goats) collected from 23 small ruminant farms were screened using a multi-stage simple radom sampling technique. A total of 40 faecal samples positive on microscopy were subjected to DNA isolation and IS900 PCR to confirm the presence of MAP. Bio-prevalence of animals shedding acid fast bacilli (AFB), indistinguishable to MAP was 32.9% (92). Block-wise bio-prevalence of AFB shedders in small ruminants was: Ganderbal (29.4%), Lar (35.2%), Wakura (32.5%) and Kangan (30.88%). Of the 40 faecal samples subjected to DNA isolation and amplification by IS900 PCR, 8 (20.0%) samples were positive for MAP. The study reported moderate bio-prevalence of MAP infection in small ruminant population of Ganderbal district of Kashmir valley.