Farm Animal Welfare

Cattle Digital Dermatitis Welfare Management

Digital dermatitis (Mortellaro disease) is a painful bacterial infection of the foot affecting a majority of dairy herds.

Key Facts

Digital dermatitis affects over 80% of UK dairy herds and causes significant lameness
The condition is caused by Treponema spirochaetes in the skin of the digital cleft
Foot bathing with copper sulphate or formalin reduces transmission significantly
Individual treatment with antibiotic topical spray or wrapping is needed for active lesions
Scoring systems allow systematic detection and treatment on farm

Welfare Considerations

Digital dermatitis causes acute and chronic pain that substantially compromises welfare and is often inadequately treated. Systematic detection using foot scoring and prompt individual treatment, combined with preventive foot bathing, dramatically reduces welfare impact.

What You Can Do

Advocate for foot scoring programmes as part of dairy farm welfare certification
Support research into non-antibiotic treatment alternatives for digital dermatitis
Ask dairy suppliers about their digital dermatitis prevalence monitoring and treatment protocols