Dr. Dave Van Metre presented this material on bovine foot rot and digital dermatitis for DAIReXNET. He covers some anatomy and explains why foot rot and digital dermatitis develop, as well as discussing ways to prevent and treat both conditions. View the full presentation at www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbvV3O0vIqk

1. Foot Rot and Digital
Dermatitis
Dr. Dave Van Metre
Extension Veterinarian
Colorado State University

2. Outline
 Introduction: Anatomy
 Bovine foot rot: Why does it develop, how can we
treat it, how can we prevent it?
 Digital dermatitis: Why does it develop, how can we
treat it, how can we prevent it?

3. The Foot
The dewclaw(s)
Coronary
band
(coronet)
Claw or hoof

4. toe
heel
Interdigital
space

5. Dewclaws
• Attached just distal to the fetlock
joint
• Anchored in soft tissue
• A great tool for detecting
generalized swelling in the foot

6. Swollen or not swollen?
 Compare “dewclaw
spread” of all four feet

9. Bovine Foot Rot (BFR)
 AKA foul of the foot, interdigital
necrobacillosis, interdigital
phlegmon
 Malodorous bacterial infection of the
interdigital skin and subcutaneous
tissue
 Foot becomes visibly swollen above
the coronary band

10. BFR: Development of disease
 Fusobacterium necrophorum
• Bacteria (ubiquitous)
• Source: GI tract & therefore manure
• Interdigital skin has to be damaged by:
Wetness & feces (maceration)
Abrasions

11. BFR epidemiology:
The B implies “beneath”
• Wetness and poor hygiene
• Pens with poor slope
• Pasture congregation spots
• Not contagious
• 1st month postpartum is highest risk
period
• Can recur – no immunity from being a
prior case

12. BFR Diagnosis
 Acute, severe lameness
 SWELLING of the foot above the
coronary band
 Dark painful fissures in the
interdigital skin
 Watery, foul-smelling exudate

13. BFR Diagnosis:
Generalized Swelling of the Foot – What’s To Notice?
The swelling is symmetrical down the axial midline
of the foot.

14. Foot Rot
Not foot rot (bone
infected from nail
puncture)

15. BFR Treatment
 Injectable antibiotics (ABs) – any one
of the following:
• Ceftiofur, oxytetracycline, penicillin, ampicillin
• Read label; you want 3-5 days of treatment in
most cases
• Combine IM or SubQ therapy with topical ABs?
No proven additional benefit of adding in
topicals.
• Topical ABs alone? May work if case is caught
very early
• Organic: Iodine under bandage
• Analgesics: Flunixin or aspirin
oxytetracycline

16. If BFR is not caught early, infection can
spread to deeper structures.

17. Delayed treatment for BFR:
Deep infection of the bone and joints can result- “Deep sepsis”

18. BFR Prevention
 Beneath! Environmental hygiene -
Proper slope and drainage to pens
 Adequate nutrition for “resilient”
skin
• Zinc, Copper, Biotin, Iodine
 Footbaths
 Vaccination is ineffective.
 Can recur – no protective immunity
 Educate: Early intervention, contact
vet if treatment fails

19. BFR Prevention Here?

20. Digital Dermatitis (DD)
a.k.a. hairy heel warts,
papillomatous digital dermatitis
 #1 cause of lameness in dairy cattle
worldwide
 A contagious disease that appears to be
caused by multiple bacteria acting
together
 “Spirochetes” (Treponema) involved
 Typical location: Interdigital skin just
above the heels
 Mild to moderate lameness
 Begins as a red, eroded, granular area,
slowly expands in size

21. Digital dermatitis:
Advanced
 Bacteria cause erosion, skin responds over
4-5 months by proliferating (lesions then
look like a big wart)
 Fronds of proliferative, infected skin look
like hairs
 No generalized swelling (dewclaws not
spread apart)
 Usually no foul odor

22. Development of Disease in DD
 Rear legs > Fore; suggesting exposure to manure, shorter
heels of hind feet may predispose
 Not all cows that develop visible lesions are lame – those
with larger, more advanced lesions tend to be the lame ones
 Average time from visible lesion to the onset of lameness =
161 days
(Krull et al, 2016)

23. Risk factors for DD
 Poor hygiene and wet conditions
 Introduction of new animals
without quarantine – it’s a
contagious disease
 Inanimate objects (fomites): hoof
trimming equipment, dirty boots

24. Treatment of DD
 Isolate if possible
 Treatment: Topical antiseptics or
antibiotics under a light bandage
• No need for systemic antibiotics – these may
work, but you’d need to discard milk until
residues gone (milk withhold)
 Flunixin meglumine or aspirin for pain if
severe
 Resolve quickly with treatment (2-4 days) –
Turn black, scab over
 Can recur, so protective immunity is not
induced by a bout of DD

25. Treatment for Organic Dairies
 Copper sulfate powder under a bandage
 Tea tree oil / iodine mixed together into an ointment
under a bandage
 Aspirin or flunixin meglumine for pain
• At present, flunixin use on organic operations carries 2X
the FDA - recommended meat and milk withhold time
(Pinedo et al, 2017)

26. Prevention of DD
Spray hind feet with:
• disinfectant
• antiseptic
• or antibiotic solution

27. Footbaths containing similar compounds

28. Prevention of DD
• Clean tools, hoof knives, boots;
clean coveralls on each premise
• Car wash if hauling tilt table
between dairies
• Vaccine? Ineffective.
• Treponema spp. bacterin
• POLYBACTERIAL DISEASE
• All of the bacteria have not yet been
identified

29. Resources
Veterinary Clinics of North America: Food Animal
Practice 33 (2), 2017
 Plummer PJ, Krull A. Clinical perspectives of
digital dermatitis in dairy and beef cattle
 Cook NB. A review of the design and management
of footbaths for dairy cattle
www.vetfood.theclinics.com