Footrot in Sheep: Control Versus Elimination

Farmers in Britain have attempted to eliminate footrot (FR) in sheep, caused by Dichelobacter nodosus (Beveridge, 1941; Roberts and Egerton, 1967), for over 40 years. The recommended techniques for managing flock foot health are routine trimming of feet, regular foot bathing and vaccination. The recommended treatment for diseased sheep includes parenteral antibiotic, topical foot spray and paring the diseased foot (Morgan, 1987; Bagley et al., 1987). It is also recommended that diseased sheep are isolated and culled if they recurrently become diseased and that sheep new to the flock are quarantined and only introduced to the flock when they are free from FR ...