Common Pool Goods and New Technology Adoption: How Canada Can Implement New Vaccinology Strategies Related to Johne’s Disease

Abstract

With a growing population, there are risks to food security that would negatively affect a great proportion of the global population. Dairy is a particularly valuable dietary resource that feeds a large proportion of the global population. One key potential constraint on growth of milk production is disease. Disease management is crucial to preserving food security and profits for the public and private markets, respectively. Johne’s Disease (JD) is a contagious, chronic and often fatal infection that primarily affects the small intestines of ruminants. Disease management currently includes solutions such as cull-and-kill, best-management practices, vaccinations, and disease testing kits. Current vaccines and tests for JD result in false positive results for tuberculosis (TB), caused by the pathogens Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb, the human variant) and Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis, the bovine variant). When positive TB results are triggered, either due to the presence of the disease or due to false-positives, governments quarantine the suspected product. Often this involves quarantine of infected farms, extermination of the animals, extended-cease production orders for infected farms and withdrawals and destruction of any suspected contaminated products from the market. The feasibility of a range of potential solutions is explored. The capacity of various institutions and actors to implement any solution is explained using the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework. Maintaining food security is a concern for the broader public, but the benefits and costs of JD management are distributed among various actors in the private market as well, making JD management a common pool good. The thesis illuminates a range of disease management options, assesses the incentives and impacts of various options for controlling JD and preserving food security, and offers insights into the best way to implement the optimal solution.