On-farm control of digital dermatitis in dairy cows
Date
2019-07-30
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Abstract
Digital dermatitis (DD) is an infectious foot lesion causing painful skin erosions which can lead to large economic and welfare implications. Currently, it is the most common foot lesion affecting dairy cattle in much of the world. Control of DD includes detection, prevention, and treatment of lesions to minimize their impact. This thesis aims to elucidate epidemiology of DD by investigating on-farm methods of detection, prevention, and treatment to generate new knowledge regarding DD control. The detection methods studied included pen walks for young stock and infrared thermography. Aspects of prevention included an evaluation of a novel footbath product and a systematic review and network meta-analyses to determine the most appropriate footbath protocol for prevention of DD. The treatment component investigated the routine treatment of DD lesions with commercially available products compared to negative and positive controls. Pen walks were able to detect DD in young stock and identified DD on 39% of farms with a mean prevalence of 1.4%. Increasing age and a high lactating DD prevalence were associated with increased DD presence in young stock. Infrared thermography was adequate to identify ulcerative, erosive lesions; however, image analysis is cumbersome and should be standardized and automated for use as a detection device. The novel footbath product evaluated was inferior to both copper sulfate and non-interference protocols and is not recommended for prevention of DD. The systematic review and network meta-analysis of footbath protocols available in the literature identified ≥ 5% copper sulfate used ≥ 4 times/wk as superior to no treatment and water for the treatment of DD lesions; however, no footbath protocol was identified as superior to any other for the prevention of DD. Routine treatment of DD lesions with commercially available topical applications was no more effective than saline (negative control) in clinically curing active lesions to nonactive stages over the 8-wk study. Routine detection, combined with consistent prevention practices and prompt treatment of DD lesions should be included in comprehensive DD control programs to maximize DD control and limit the negative consequences of DD.
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Keywords
dairy cattle, digital dermaitis
Citation
Jacobs, C. E. (2019). On-farm control of digital dermatitis in dairy cows (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.