Successful control programs depend on knowledgeable veterinarians and producers. In the United States we developed a multi-pronged approach to Johne's disease education, targeting regulatory veterinarians, as well as veterinarians in private practice, and producers of multiple species.

For veterinarians, we developed the Online Johne's Disease Veterinary Certificate Program, consisting of seven modules covering the basics of Johne's disease pathobiology and epidemiology, diagnostics and test interpretations, risk assessment, and management and control in dairy and beef operations. For practical application we created four virtual farm visits (dairy and beef) so that veterinarians can practice assessing the risk of Johne's disease occurrence and developing management plans for different types and sizes of operations with varying levels of disease prevalence. We also have modules that address Johne's disease in other species: goats, sheep, cervidae, camelids, and bison.

For producers, we have revised the modules for the certificate program to specifically provide relevant information. These modules are organized by type of operation (dairy or beef) and species (goats, sheep, cervidae, camelids, and bison.) In addition, we are developing a series of four modules where producers talk to producers about the economic impact of Johne's disease and control efforts on their businesses.

We will also report on the evaluation studies underway of both the certificate program and the Dairy Producer module. The purpose of the studies is to gain further insights into the impact of the respective education programs on veterinarians' and producers' knowledge and practice. In addition, we are assessing veterinarians' and producers' individual learning preferences, strategies, and activities, during and after their participation in the online education programs.