Comparison of the efficacy of a commercial footbath product with copper sulfate for the control of digital dermatitis

Abstract

Digital dermatitis (DD) is the most prevalent foot lesion affecting dairy herds worldwide. Its implications include production losses and decreased animal welfare. Footbathing is the most common herd-level prevention strategy for DD. Because many common footbath products have negative environmental and health consequences, replacement products expected to have improved safety but equal efficacy are being developed. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a new quaternary ammonium-based commercial footbath product (QAC) for reducing the prevalence of active DD lesions compared with an industry standard (copper sulfate; CuSO) and typical on-farm footbath practices. A controlled intervention trial was conducted on 19 Alberta dairy farms over 12 wk, with 9 farms allocated to the QAC group (1% QAC daily, 5 d/wk), 5 to the CuSO group (5% CuSO daily, 5 d/wk), and 5 to a noninterference group (maintained typical footbath practices). A total of 22,285 observations on 3,465 lactating cows were assessed for DD lesions and leg cleanliness in the milking parlor. Five farms discontinued use of the QAC product for various reasons. Noninferiority analysis was used to assess QAC ability to decrease the proportion of cows with 1 or more active DD lesions compared with CuSO after 6 wk. Multilevel logistic regression models for repeated measures were used to evaluate efficacy of QAC compared with CuSO and noninterference farms in reducing the prevalence of active DD lesions at the foot level over 12 wk. The noninferiority analysis determined that the proportion of cows with 1 or more active DD lesion decreased 2.19 (95% CI: 1.39-3.46) times less after 6 wk of study on the QAC farms compared with CuSO farms, making QAC inferior to CuSO. The multilevel logistic regression models determined that the proportion of active DD lesions increased in the QAC herds, whereas this proportion decreased in the CuSO and noninterference herds over 12 wk. Additionally, cows in mid- and late-lactation had a higher odds of having active DD compared with fresh cows. Older cows (parity 3 and ≥4) had a decreased odds of active DD compared with first-parity cows. At the farm level, a higher baseline active DD prevalence resulted in increased odds of active DD; however, this did not modify the effect of treatment or week of study. We concluded that QAC was inferior to CuSO and typical on-farm footbath practices, and further development of novel footbath products is required to develop an ideal alternative.

Prevalence of digital dermatitis in young stock in Alberta, Canada, using pen walks

“…Other reports of DD prevalence in lactating cattle have focused on M1 and M2 stages only (Somers et al, 2003), different scoring systems (Holzhauer et al, 2006), or specific groups of animals (Capion et al, 2012). Multi-farm footbath trials conducted in Alberta, Canada, have reported prevalence of M1-M4.1 lesions ranging between 15 and 86% (Jacobs et al, 2017;Solano et al, 2017b), similar to this study.…”

Broad-spectrum infrared thermography for detection of M2 digital dermatitis lesions on hind feet of standing dairy cattle

“…We analysed data collected in parallel with the published randomized controlled trial by Jacobs et al [ 14 ]. The IRT measurements and locomotion scores ( LS ) were not analysed before, whereas the M-scores, lower leg cleanliness scores ( CS ), and farm descriptives were used from Jacobs et al [ 14 ]. All methods were approved by the Animal Care Committee (AC13-0055) of the University of Calgary.…”

“…Each farm was located in Alberta, Canada, and data were collected from May to August 2013 on the first four farms and in November 2013 on the fifth farm. The routine treatment and hoof trimming schedule was maintained for all farms over the course of the study [ 14 ]. We refer the reader to Jacobs et al [ 14 ] for details on the footbathing practices for lactating cows.…”

“…In summary, M0 was defined as normal digital skin with no evidence of DD; M1 was defined as a small (< 2 cm in diameter) circumscribed red to grey epithelial defect; M2 was defined as an ulcerative lesion ≥ 2 cm in diameter with a red-grey surface; M3 was defined as a stage characterized by a firm dark scab-like covering; and M4 was characterized by a lesion surface with brown or black tissue that was hyperkeratotic, scaly, or proliferative. As in Jacobs et al [ 14 ], the M4.1 lesions, with small red circumscribed lesions occurring within the boundaries of an existing M4 lesion [ 18 ], were not scored as such, and therefore lesions of this description were included within the M1 category. The LS considered five classes, with 1 = perfect gait and 5 = severely lame, based on the 7 specific gait attributes as described by Flower and Weary [ 19 ] and validated for use on video recordings by Chapinal et al [ 20 ] and Ito et al [ 21 ].…”

“…The routine treatment and hoof trimming schedule was maintained for all farms over the course of the study [14]. We refer the reader to Jacobs et al [14] for details on the footbathing practices for lactating cows. Where farm 1 corresponds with farm C4, farm 2 with farm C3, farm 3 with Q3, farm 4 with Q4, and farm 5 with Q6 in Jacobs et al [14].…”