The National Johne’s Management Plan Phases 1 and 2 have delivered a sustained improvement in Johne’s Disease (JD) control since 2015.
The NJMP focuses on training of JD Advisors, providing the framework for six JD control strategies, and encouraging widespread engagement with effective JD control across the dairy sector of Great Britain.
From 2015 to 2024 the median herd’s Average individual milk ELISA Test Value (ATV) reduced from 9.7 to 5.8 and the median within-herd prevalence reduced from 5.5% to 2.0% in quarterly testing herds.
Challenges in herds with relatively high within-herd prevalences and the impact of JD on cow welfare, economics, the environment, along with wider societal concerns, reinforce the need to further progress JD control.
The major changes of the NJMP in Phase III are:
- Challenging the GB dairy sector to achieve a national Johne’s Control Index of 5.5 by 2030, where the JCI is defined as the average of all herd ATVs.
- Requiring participating herds to assess their ATV, with a random 60 cow screen being the minimum requirement (30-cow screens will not be accepted)
- Monitoring industry progress through the JD Tracker database using ATVs and within-herd prevalence together with the drivers of infection
- Updating the benchmarks within the JD Tracker Tool annually from 31st March 2025 using rolling 3-year averages