Livestock at National Seashore Raises Public Health Concerns

More than 2.5 annual visitors share the national seashore with about 6,000 domestic beef and dairy cattle. The NPS's plan, now in the final stages, calls for more livestock— goats, sheep, chickens and pigs—meant to shore up the ranchers’ bottom line. 

Dairy cow at Point Reyes. Photo: Laura Cunningham

In comments to the NPS’s draft plan for ranching at the Point Reyes National Seashore and Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) the Resource Renewal Institute and Western Watershed Project raised concerns about the public health risks of Johne’s Disease, a contagious and chronic intestinal disease that afflicts cattle—particularly dairy cows.  Other ruminants, domestic and wild—deer, sheep, goats, antelopes, elk—also are susceptible.

Johne’s (pronounced Yo-Nees) is a “zoonotic disease." By definition, zoonotic diseases are those that can spread between species and can “spill over” from animals to humans. Ebola, Mers, HIV, bovine tuberculosis, rabies and leptospirosis are among zoonotic diseases that cause over 2 billion cases of human illness and more than 2 million human deaths each year. That was before the outbreak of COVID 19.
         
The bacteria responsible for Johne’s Disease, M. a. paratuberculosis (referred to as MAP), consistently appears in humans with Crohn’s Disease, though a direct causal link is not yet confirmed. MAP is also associated with irritable bowel syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, Type 1 diabetes, and colorectal cancer in humans. But the NPS hasn’t considered Johne’s Disease in the Environmental Impact Statement in its proposed plan for ranching at Point Reyes National Seashore.

The NPS doesn’t require that the cattle be tested for Johne’s Disease. However, the NPS periodically tests a sampling of Tule elk for Johne's (which requires killing the wild elk). Some elk tested positive.

How can this be?

Dairy cows at Point Reyes National Seashore produce 100,000,000 pounds of manure annually. The manure is spread over the pastures as slurry, which runs off into the park’s waterways. Wildlife susceptible to the disease, like elk, come into contact with it.

Based on data from state and federal agencies that routinely test water for bacteria and other contaminants, a Center for Biological Diversity analysis found creeks at Point Reyes National Seashore to be in the top ten most contaminated sites in the state of California.

According the U.S. National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods, “MAP bacteria survives in cattle feces, water and soil… and can come into contact with food crops that result in human exposure.” The pathogen can remain viable in water and soil for a year or more. MAP has been detected in ground beef, raw and pasteurized milk, cheese and infant formula.

The Johne’s Information Center at the University of Wisconsin’s School of Veterinary Medicine is a clearinghouse for research on the disease, which exacts a heavy toll on the dairy industry. Dr. Michael Collins has published widely on Johne’s and has studied the elk at Point Reyes.  

“MAP is a promiscuous, insidious, zoonotic, foodborne pathogen that threatens the economic viability of livestock producers, the health and well-being of wildlife, zoological collections of wild ruminants (many of which are endangered), and humans,” says Collins.  
 
“MAP is an equal opportunity infection. It attacks cattle of all breeds on farms of all sizes and types… this is not a problem caused by so-called ‘factory farms.’ Organic dairies are just as likely to have a Johne’s disease problem as any other…“It deserves far more research funding and control-program investment than it currently receives.”
 
“As we dug deeper into the science and spoke with leading researchers, we learned that Johne’s Disease isn’t a problem just for wildlife, but a potential health risk to humans,” says Deborah Moskowitz, President of Resource Renewal Institute. “It’s a risk to the public that the park service needs to address.”

ACT

Send a letter to the editor about your concerns. (Point Reyes Light, Marin IJ, Press Democrat, San Francisco Chronicle, Bohemian, Pacific Sun). Send copies of your letter to:

Carey Feierabend, Acting Superintendent, Point Reyes National Seashore
 
Senator Dianne Feinstein
 
Rep. Jared Huffman
 
Rep. Raul Grijalva, Chair of the House Natural Resource Committee
 

READ

Letter to the Editor by Dr. Martin Griffin, MD, MPH
Could Pt. Reyes cattle be a future virus risk?

Marin Voice, by Deborah Moskowitz, MPH, President of Resource Renewal Institute
Ranching at Point Reyes National Seashore doesn’t add up

RRI’s letter to the Acting Superintendent, Point Reyes National Seashore