Farm Animal Welfare

Cattle Digital Dermatitis Welfare

Digital dermatitis causes significant lameness in dairy cattle - systematic herd-level management is more effective than individual treatment alone.

Key Facts

Digital dermatitis (Mortellaro's disease) is caused by Treponema bacterial species
Active lesions (M2 stage) cause severe pain affecting standing, walking, and eating
Topical oxytetracycline treatment of M2 lesions reduces healing time significantly
Herd-level foot bathing with copper sulphate or formalin reduces population lesion prevalence
Biosecurity protocols prevent new herd introductions from bringing new strains

Welfare Considerations

Digital dermatitis causes severe lameness pain in affected cows - an M2 active lesion is acutely painful and causes significant welfare compromise. Systematic prevention through foot bathing, combined with individual treatment of active lesions, reduces the welfare burden across the entire herd.

What You Can Do

Advocate for digital dermatitis scoring and treatment protocols in dairy welfare certification
Support veterinary training in Mortellaro's disease recognition and management
Choose dairy products from farms with documented lameness monitoring and treatment programmes