References
Lameness in sheep: a practical guide to non-contagious foot diseases
Abstract
Non-contagious foot diseases are the most important causes of lameness on some farms, and farmers are often concerned when they see abnormal feet. Granulomas, shelly hoof and white line abscesses are common non-contagious foot diseases on UK sheep farms. This article presents an overview of these diseases, including their clinical presentation, aetiology and epidemiology, and treatment and control.
Lameness causes significant economic losses on UK sheep farms because of reduced productivity, and the increased labour and expenditure associated with treatment (Nieuwhof and Bishop, 2005; Wassink et al, 2010a). Lameness is also a major concern for animal welfare (Phythian et al, 2011). Two contagious diseases, footrot (encompassing scald and severe footrot) and contagious ovine digital dermatitis (CODD), are the most common causes of lameness in UK sheep flocks, affecting >95% and 35–48% of flocks respectively (Angell et al, 2014; Winter et al, 2015). These diseases account for 68% and 12% of lesions respectively in affected flocks (Winter et al, 2015). Treatment and control of footrot and CODD have been discussed in detail in recent articles (Clifton and Green, 2017; Green and Clift on, 2018; Duncan and Angell, 2019) and therefore will not be discussed here.
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