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Review
. 2015 May 4:6:155-164.
doi: 10.2147/VMRR.S62072. eCollection 2015.

The etiology of digital dermatitis in ruminants: recent perspectives

Jennifer H Wilson-Welder  1 , David P Alt  1 , Jarlath E Nally  1
Affiliations
Review

The etiology of digital dermatitis in ruminants: recent perspectives

Jennifer H Wilson-Welder et al. Vet Med (Auckl). .

Abstract

Digital dermatitis (DD) is a multifactorial polymicrobial infectious disease originally described in dairy cattle, but is increasingly recognized in beef cattle, sheep, and more recently, elk and goats. Clinical bovine lesions typically appear on the plantar surface of the hind foot from the interdigital space and heel bulb to the accessory digits, with a predilection for skin-horn junctions. Lesions present as a painful ulcerative acute or chronic inflammatory process with differing degrees of severity. This variability reflects disease progression and results in a number of different clinical descriptions with overlapping pathologies that ultimately have a related bacterial etiology. The goal of this review article is to provide a concise overview of our current understanding on digital dermatitis disease to facilitate clinical recognition, our current understanding on the causative agents, and recent advances in our understanding of disease transmission.

Keywords: Digital dermatitis; lameness; ruminant; treponemes.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Bovine digital dermatitis. Notes: (A) A characteristic bovine digital dermatitis lesion. (B) A less typical lesion of digital dermatitis (red circle) on the left rear foot of a female adult Galloway cow, which is classified as M4.1. The lesion was positive for the presence of spirochetes. Notice pitting on heel bulb. (C) The right hind leg of the same animal in (B) with no visible lesions.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Ovine and cervine digital dermatitis. Notes: A characteristic lesion of (A) contagious ovine digital dermatitis, (B) elk hoof disease, and (C) transmission electron micrograph of treponemes (indicated by arrows) associated with elk hoof disease.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Bovine digital dermatitis. Notes: Dissection of the bovine foot between digits illustrates (A) the extent of bovine digital dermatitis lesion development compared to (B) the right hind leg of the same animal with no visible lesions. This figure highlights the chronicity of infection and thus a need for systemic treatments. It also illustrates a niche where treponemes could persist and thus act as a recurring source of infection.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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