Footrot in sheep
There are 2 types of injuries in footrot. We call these clinical presentations. The
first one is called
interdigital dermatitis
. You can see this is the photo on the left.
It is an inflammation of the skin between the claws (also called interdigital skin).
This can progress call severe footrot, which you can see on the photo on the
right. There is a separation of the hoof horn from the underlying tissues, causing
infection and also a putrid smell.
Footrot in sheep
Animal are not able to bear weight on the
affected foot and will kneel on the grass to
feed.
So what causes these injuries?
Footrot is caused by the
bacterium
Dichelobacter nodosus
. D.
nodosus can be transmitted from sheep to
sheep through direct contact but the main
transmission route is through the pasture.
Factors affecting signs of footrot:
•
environment
–
moisture and temperature
in the pasture
•
virulence
of infecting bacteria
•
type
of sheep
•
stocking rate
and proportion of infected
sheep.
Signs of footrot
Mild reddening of the skin between the digits or toes (interdigital) from
complete separation of the horn of the hoof are the first signs of
infection. The bacteria can then move under the horn causing separation
of horn around the heel, sole, toe and eventually to the outer wall.
Sheep infected with footrot become progressively more lame and
exhibit the following signs in progressive order:
1.
Inflamed, red and moist skin between the digits.
2. A grey pasty scum between the digits.
3. Lifting of skin-horn junction between digits.
4. Under-running or separation of horn around heel, sole, toe and finally
to the outside hoof wall.
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