Mortellaro (also known as digital dermatitis) is an infectious disease that affects the skin close to the hoof and is more prevalent when cows are housed.
Now that weather conditions have become colder, cows are coming in for the housing period full-time and lameness can become an issue, particularly as a result of infectious diseases.
Mortellaro is caused primarily by the spirochaete bacteria of Treponema species and is often introduced into the herd via buying-in of infected animals.
As cows come indoors from a long few months out at grazing, the unhygienic conditions in indoor housing can be a shock to the hoof and major risk factor for mortellaro, as the bacteria that cause it can easily spread in slurry.
Mortellaro
Mortellaro is quite a stubborn hoof disease, as once it arrives onto your farm, it is often quite hard to control and almost impossible to eliminate.
Mortellaro usually presents itself as a lesion on the claw skin of the hoof, located were between where both the claws merge.
The disease will appear as red and quite a raw looking lesion that is very painful and will often have quite a bad smell.
Poor mortellaro control will exacerbate other conditions, result in slower resolution of lesions, and a greater incidence of non-healing lesions.
The environment is crucial in the controlling of mortellaro, as farmers must ensure that the cubicle shed floor and passageways are regularly scraped.
Cows that have previously suffered from metabolic disorders like milk fever, displaced abomasum and ketosis have a higher risk of mortellaro disease.
Treatment
Trimming should be done, using the Dutch five-step method to rule out other claw lesions, and to remove excess horn in order to enhance treatment penetration.
The trimming protocol should be discussed with your hoof trimmer and maybe the whole herd should be analysed and examined with your hoof trimmer to see which cows need a trim after dying off and coming into the winter months.
Regular foot bathing, with a copper sulphate product is the most effective way of controlling mortellaro in your herd.
Prior to foot bathing, try remove manure or dried bedding material and dry out the lesion before foot bathing cows, in order to maximise the effectiveness of the product.
Salicylic acid can also be effective at controlling mortellaro as it has a low pH, which makes it a bactericide and it comes in a powder and can be placed directly on the lesion, using a bandage to keep it in place for a number of days.
Ensure that cows are not overcrowded in the house and that there is at least one cubicle/cow, so that cows maximise their lying time of 12-14 hours/day, as the more they are off their feet, the better.
Locomotion scoring or mobility scoring should be carried out to determine which cows are struggling on their feet and to dictate which hoof needs work.
The most important thing to keep mortellaro at bay, is to keep high hygiene standards at all time by making sure passageways are spotless and cubicles and mats are comfortable and clean.
