ted to the pasteurization process," which is described as "designed to be fail safe."
The USDA insists that the agency is doing everything it can with regard to Johne's disease, despite having allocated less than one percent of its grant budget to a problem that is spreading quickly. The USDA also points to having formed the National Johne's Working Group in 1994. Interestingly enough, the executive committee of this working group consists of three people, two of whom are industry representatives: John Adams of the National Milk Producer's Federation and Gary Weber of the National Cattleman's Beef Association.
The leaders of the dairy industry point to the FDA's determination that milk is safe and the considerable scientific debate as to whether or not Mp is even a human pathogen. "From the dairy industry's standpoint," says Chris Galen, a spokesperson for the National Milk Producer's Federation, a lobbying organization based in Arlington, Va., "it's something that bears watching. But at this point, it doesn't really look like there's a direct correlation between the bacteria and Crohn's disease."
When asked if the public should be made aware that a handful of respected researchers around the world are investigating the possibility that there is a connection, Galen responds, "There are people who think aliens are invading the planet and maybe we should be made aware of that too, but most people would probably agree that there isn't a lot of evidence of that.
"I'm using that as a facetious example," continues Galen. "I'm not trying to characterize those people who think there is a definitive link between the Johne's organism and Crohn's disease as people who also believe in little green men. What I'm saying simply is that the preponderance of the scientific evidence at this time does not indicate that there is a link between Mycobacterium paratuberculosis and Crohn's disease in humans."
"The agencies that are responsible for regulating animal industries and food safety are also responsible for promoting those industries," says Kennedy. "So they suffer from CJD – conflicting job description."
"We have been asking that the retail milk supply in the United States be tested for the presence of [Mp], and they [FDA] refuse to do it," says Stephen Merkel of Cleveland, a founding member of PARA, whose wife has suffered with Crohn's disease since 1960. "They insist that this organism does not survive the pasteurization process. If they're so sure, why not test retail milk? I see only one explanation as to why they refuse to test the milk supply -- they are afraid of what they might find."
Despite the repeated beating of their collective head on the proverbial brick wall, PARA achieved a major breakthrough when they successfully lobbied the National Institutes of Health to conduct a workshop on Crohn's disease in December 1998.
"We went out to the NIH and implored them to look at the science," says Cheryl Miller of Dayton, also a founding member of PARA, whose 5'6" daughter was down to 92 pounds before she began taking an antibiotic regimen similar to Hermon-Taylor's, which was followed by her rapid improvement. "The NIH reviewed the science and put on this workshop. The fact that the NIH took this action tells you that a prudent person aware of the available scientific evidence would be very, very concerned."
The research battle
On Dec. 14, 1998, a host of researchers were brought together at NIH in Bethesda, Md., to discuss the possible connection between Mp and Crohn's. Despite the circumstantial evidence that there exists a relationship, it is hardly a forgone conclusion. Among the impressive group of experts presenting evidence of a possible connection, one presenter took the opposing viewpoint.
"If you had talked to me in 1984, I would have given you the same kind of pitch that Mike Collins gave," says Dr. Herbert Van Kruiningen of the University of Connecticut. "I would have shown you a picture of an emaciated cow, an emaciated human with Crohn's, and I would have shown you a picture of the intestine of a cow with Johne's an