Farm Animals

Cattle Lameness - Digital Dermatitis Management

Digital dermatitis (Mortellaro disease) is the most common cause of lameness in UK dairy cattle, and herd-level management can significantly reduce prevalence.

Key Facts

Digital dermatitis affects up to 70% of cows in some dairy herds
The condition is caused by spirochaete bacteria and is highly contagious
Foot bathing with copper sulphate or formalin reduces transmission and controls active lesions
Early treatment with oxytetracycline spray achieves remission in most active lesions
Herd health planning should include digital dermatitis prevalence monitoring and targets

Welfare Considerations

Digital dermatitis causes chronic lameness pain in a large proportion of dairy cows in many herds. Herd-level control reduces individual suffering at scale.

What You Can Do

Support dairy farms with documented foot bath management and digital dermatitis control
Advocate for digital dermatitis prevalence as a mandatory welfare reporting metric
Choose dairy products from farms with low lameness prevalence certification