#TOWARDSNETZEROLAMENESS, Herd Health Consultancy’s Nick Bell

Digital dermatitis is caused by the Treponemes anaerobic bacteria which live in cows’ skin and not for long in slurry. It is amongst the commonest diseases causing lameness which invariably arise from management factors during rearing and first lactation.

Once infected, the bacteria are retained in the skin, often in a dormant phase and in a pocket between the heel bulbs. However, the Treponemes can also be found in the lesions under the heel horn, on the coronary band, on the skin between the claws, under the dew claws and on the pastern skin in ulcerated hocks. They can even be found on teat lesions and in udder cleft dermatitis.

Tracking exactly when new infections arise will help target treatment effort, for example, those with lesion appparent 60 to 100 days in milk may have started in the dry period.

Early detection combined with prompt effective treatment (EDPET) is a critical part of managing digital dermatitis on farm; it not only helps cows to quickly recover, but also reduces the risk of further spread since cows with lesions are a major reservoir of new infection.

Identifying digital dermatitis takes time and effort – either in the parlour or in the crush and staff need to be trained to do the job. It’s also difficult to identify lesions in stages other than the M2 strawberry wart stage.

PediVue is ground breaking technology, offering a promising future, enabling farmers to easily identify lesions at the M2 active stage, before they reach the M4 chronic stage.

Digital dermatitis: the four different stages

• M2, active lesions: red, raw and painful. Aim for fewer than 1% of cows with active lesions.
• M4, chronic ‘warty’ lesions: the most common stage in most herds. The majority of effective footbathing protocols will lock the infections in the chronic stages.
• Reactivating: when cows are under stress or foot bathing stops/is ineffective, chronic lesions go back to being active. This can apply to a number of cows, so it is generally the biggest source of infection pressure in a herd.
• Dormant infections: if foot bathing is infrequent, especially in infected youngstock or dry cow units, then many cows will have acquired infections, however they can lie dormant for months until immunity dips or foot bathing stops.

Customer Testimonials