On March 24 and 25, 2017 researchers and clinicians from around the world met at Temple University in Philadelphia, USA to discuss the current knowledge of Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis (MAP) and its relationship to human disease.
The conference participants reached consensus on several issues relating to MAP. A majority of the conferees (78%) concluded that the accumulating information now strongly supports the theory that MAP is a zoonotic bacterium. A majority of the conferees (72%) noted that MAP present in dairy products and meat causes disease in some humans and thus poses a public health threat (Kuenstner et al. (2017).
While a conference consensus does not constitute official confirmation that MAP is a human pathogen it would be prudent to accept this confirmation of human pathogen status and to take appropriate action.
I have modified the article on modelling the destruction of MAP* during pasteurization of milk to better reflect this new consensus (Mullan, 2015).
References
Kuenstner et al. (2017). The Consensus from the Mycobacterium avium ssp.paratuberculosis (MAP) Conference 2017. Frontiers in Public Health. Available from: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2017.00208 .
*Mullan, W.M.A. (2015). Modelling the lethal effects of HTST pasteurization. Is it time to raise statutory time / temperature conditions to destroy Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP)?. [On-line]. Available from: https://www.dairyscience.info/index.php/food-model/277-htst-pasteurization.html . Accessed: 3 October, 2017. Updated October, 2017.