Digital Dermatitis is an infectious condition of feet in cattle caused by a specific bacteria called Treponemes. Foot lesions that are implicated in digital dermatitis have a highly variable appearance and can be found at a range of sites on the feet, however the classic lesion is on the skin around the heel.
Digital Dermatitis is a major factor in the loss of production in some herds and trying to prevent the disease results in less production losses and is a lot more cost effective than treating individual severe cases in a herd.
Prevention of the spread of digital dermatitis can be achieved by daily foot-bathing and better scraping of floors, removing sources of deep slurry, water and mud.
This information was taken from our December 2019 newsletter, you can view the full newsletter here.