10/07/05 Idaho Johne`s program manager quits

He'd only been on the job for about three weeks but Doctor Samuel Fassig has resigned as Idaho State Department of Agriculture's Johne's Program Manager. Fassig says he left in support of State Veterinarian Doctor Clarence Siroky who was fired on Monday. Fassig was hired to oversee the program amid a growing awareness about Johne's, the bacterial disease that can infect any ruminant animal. FASSIG "It's a very insidious highly infectious disease that will eventually cause death in the individual. And the clinical signs basically are a diarrhea, a wasting away, the inability to use food. The problem is it affects both beef and dairy." Doctor Fassig says Johne's is spread by contact with fecal matter. He is also concerned that some dairy and cattle producers aren't taking the Johne's threat seriously. FASSIG "Currently vaccines are not effective. They have been used in control programs in other countries but again it has not been an effective measure to eliminate or control the disease, it may just reduce some clinical signs. The problem is a vaccinated animal scores positive on most of the testing methods." An ISDA spokesman says the search is already on for Fassig's successor and also for a new state vet. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott