Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in powdered infant milk: F57 competitive real time PCR

Abstract

Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) in concentrations from 48 to 32 500 cells per gram of powdered infant milk were found in 18 out of 51 investigated samples (35%) in this study. More than 10 000 cells per gram were present in four samples (7.8%). Such concentrations mean that one package of milk contains 5 million MAP cells, which are ingested by a bottle-fed baby over the course of several days. Premature babies and bottle-fed newborns can be affected by pro-inflammatory triggers from a huge number of mycobacteria despite not suffering from infection with bacteria or viruses often linked with the etiology of Crohn's disease.