Maggot Debridement Therapy in the Treatment of Footrot and Foot Scald in Sheep

Abstract

Koãi‰ová A., J. Pistl, R. Link, E. âonková, M. Goldová: Maggot Debridement Therapy in the Treatment of Footrot and Foot Scald in Sheep. Acta Vet. Brno 2006, 75: 277-281.In sheep with acute and chronic interdigital skin inflammation, maggot therapy was used for the debridement and speeding up the healing process. Sheep were housed at the university farm Zemplínska Teplica and before using maggot therapy, they were unsuccessfully treated by a footbath containing 10% copper sulphate and topical application of oxytetracycline solution in alcohol. Six non-pregnant Valachian sheep between two to four years of age, weighing 43 to 57 kg were treated with maggots of Lucilia sericata (Meigen) (Diptera: Calliphoridae). The larval population should be 8-12 per square centimetre of wound, but all affected tissues were trimmed away before their application. The effect of a single application for 3-6 days was evaluated. Debridement was rapid and selective. The treatment was well tolerated by animals. New layers of healthy tissue were formed over the wounds. It was observed that maggots of L. sericata are capable of cleaning the wounds after single application. Fly larvae; Lucilia sericata; clinical cure; dermatitis interdigitalis acuta; pododermatitis purulentaOvine foot rot is a highly contagious disease affecting the interdigital tissue of sheep. It is one of the most common causes of severe lameness and can result in serious economic loss from decreased meat and flock production. Foot rot is caused by an interaction of two anaerobic bacteria, Dichelobacter nodosus (previously Bacteroides nodosus) and Fusobacterium necrophorum (previously Sphaerophorus necrophorus) (Whittier and Umberger 1997). Foot scald (interdigital dermatitis) is an infection of only F. necrophorum and is not contagious. Footrot and foot scald tend to be seasonal, with the highest incidence occurring during the wet seasons. Cuts, bruises, puncture wounds, or severe abrasions of the foot due to sharp rocks and sticks will damage the skin in the interdigital space and predispose sheep to footrot by allowing bacteria to invade and multiply within the tissue. Lameness is usually the first sign of an infected animal and is typically followed by reddening of the interdigital tissue and swelling of the foot, causing spreading of the toes. If footrot and foot scald are not controlled, they may invade deeper structures of the foot, including joints which may lead to the septic arthritis. Foot bathing in 10% zinc sulphate or copper sulfate are recommended but for severe cases antibiotic therapy is necessary (Boundry 1983;Griffin 1998). But on the other hand when the resistance to antibiotics is developed, the healing is delayed. Maggot therapy has been successfully used as a new alternative method to treat the wounds with necrosis of the soft tissues, especially of cutis and subcutis.Information about successful healing of wounds with the help of fly larvae dates back to the ancient times. The beneficial effect of fly larvae on difficult-to-heal wounds was...

Maggot Debridement Treatment and Its Applications in Veterinary Medicine

“…For this purpose, larval treatment, which will perform all these procedures, is widely used (Kurtoğlu and Karataş 2009). Although MDT has been used in humans for the treatment of chronic wounds for centuries (Kočišovă et al 2006;Michelle et al 2011;Lepage et al 2012;Kenawy and Abdel-hamid 2020), it has rarely been used in animal infections (Table 2) (Bell and Thomas 2000;Jones and Wall 2008).…”

“…In veterinary medicine, MDT has been used to treat actinomycosis in a Guernsey bull (Dicke 1953); panniculitis and abscesses in donkeys (Bell and Thomas 2000); chronic decubitus wounds in rabbits (Kočišovă et al 2003); foot rot and acute and chronic interdigital dermatitis in sheep (Kočišovă et al 2006); pressure ulcers and gunshot wounds in dogs and necrotic tumors and multiple bites in cats (Sherman et al 2007a).…”