Aetio-pathogenesis of Anaerobic Infections Associated with Bovine Lameness and Some Human Diseases

In clinical veterinary practice, infectious lameness has been described in textbooks from the early 1800s. Known colloquially as 'the fouls', specific lesions were accurately described: the shag foul was a circular lesion 2 cm diameter on the heel similar to greasy heels in horses and sounds similar to digital dermatitis; the stinking foul was an interdigital necrosis that was, almost certainly, interdigital necrobacillosis; the frog foul was a space-occupying lesion within the interdigital space but without any damage to the integument, the condition we recognise now as interdigital hyperplasia (Knowlson 1819). During the 1930s, infectious causes of lameness in both cattle and sheep were considered important only with regard to diagnosis of Foot-and-Mouth disease (Woolridge 1934), not for any economic or welfare reasons. Today, cattle lameness is considered a major welfare issue in many countries where intensive dairy farming is commonplace. Surprisingly it is two infectious diseases associated with lameness, digital dermatitis in cattle and new variant footrot in sheep, which are causing currently the greatest problem ...