Footrot is one of the most painful and economically significant diseases in sheep worldwide, causing severe lameness. It is largely preventable through vaccination, selection, and management, yet remains widespread.
Footrot causes severe pain. Affected sheep experience tissue destruction in the hoof, with the characteristic interdigital necrosis producing intense lameness that prevents normal grazing and movement. Lame sheep lose body condition rapidly as energy expenditure rises and food intake falls. In pregnant ewes, footrot-related stress can affect lamb birth weight and survival. The disease is often underdiagnosed or undertreated because individual sheep in large flocks attract less attention than companion animals, and because farmers may normalise a background level of lameness. Effective control programmes combining vaccination, footbathing, culling of chronically affected individuals, and genetic selection for foot health can dramatically reduce prevalence, but require sustained management commitment.