Digital Dermatitis

In the past 15 year, digital dermatitis has evolved into a serious problem for the North American dairy industry. This disease is commonly called heel warts, hairy foot warts, strawberry foot disease, or raspberry heel. It is also known scientifically as digital papillomatosis. Affected cattle have obvious lameness and spend excessive time lying down. This disease is common in first-calf heifers. When digital dermatitis is present it is more often located in the hind feet. There is little to no digital swelling with this disease.

Foot wart lesions look like raised yellow and red patches and are typically located at the rear of the foot above the heel. These lesions are extremely painful and prone to bleeding. Mature lesions can be up to two inches across. They are raised with long brown or black patches of hair projecting from the surface. The lesions can persist for many months, and may regress with dry weather.

This condition is likely caused by a spirochete bacterium and is very contagious. That this disease typically responds to antibiotics suggests an infectious agent. Environment may predispose cattle to the foot wart agent. For example, wet free stalls, poorly drained lots etc. Spirochetes have been found in the digits of health cows in affected herds, and in herds not affected by foot wars. It is possible that cattle may be infected with the bacterium but demonstrate no evidence of lameness or lesions until a specific stress or environmental component triggers the disease.

There are several treatment protocols, which may be used for digital dermatitis. In the initial stage of the disease, due to the pain allowing the cow to walk normally is critical to recovery. This requires desensitization of the infected area by removing any debris from the lesion and applying a topical solution of antibiotics and / or caustic chemicals. Oxytetracycline is effective when applied directly to the lesion. Lincomycin / spectinomcin (LS-50) powder has proven to be successful. Topical sprays of iodine or iodized copper have been used effectively for treatment on control. Caustic chemicals should be used with extreme caution. If they are overused they can cause serious lameness due to chemical burns on the skin. A concentrated footbath along with topical applications can be effective in controlling foot warts. A footbath containing a ten percent solution of copper sulfate can help in the control of foot warts and other hoof infections. For large, chronic foot warts, surgical removal may be necessary. The un-diseased tissue next to the base of the wart must also be removed from the entire circumference of the lesion for the sugary to be a success; otherwise re-growth of the wart may commonly occur.