Lesley Stringer

Citation

Thesis Title
Epidemiological studies to inform control strategies for paratuberculosis in farmed deer

Read article at Massey Research Online:

Lesley researched the epidemiology and control of paratuberculosis, or Johne’s disease, an untreatable fatal disease that causes economic losses for deer farmers in New Zealand. She surveyed the deer slaughter population to establish a baseline prevalence of infection, carried out a field trial of vaccine efficacy against clinical disease in over 3000 young deer in the South Island, studied the effects of vaccination on tests for tuberculosis and assessed the performance of diagnostic tests to detect infected deer. Her research showed that infection is widespread in the deer population, that vaccination is effective in reducing clinical and subclinical disease, that both vaccination and natural infection may interfere with tests for tuberculosis and that improved diagnostic tests are needed to detect infected deer. Together the studies enhance our knowledge of different aspects of paratuberculosis control in the New Zealand farmed deer population.

Supervisors
Professor Peter Wilson
Professor Cord Heuer