Pleiotropic Loci Associated With Foot Disorders and Common Periparturient Diseases in Holstein Cattle

Lameness is an animal welfare issue that incurs substantial financial and environmental costs. This condition is commonly caused by digital dermatitis (DD), sole ulcers (SU), and white line disease (WLD). Susceptibility to these three foot disorders is due in part to genetics, indicating that genomic selection against these foot lesions can be used to reduce lameness prevalence. It is unclear whether selection against foot lesions will lead to increased susceptibility to other common diseases such as mastitis and metritis. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the genetic correlation between causes of lameness and other common health disorders to identify loci contributing to the correlation. Genetic correlation estimates between SU and DD and between SU and WLD were significantly different from zero (p < 0.05), whereas estimates between DD and mastitis, DD and milk fever, and SU and metritis were suggestive (p < 0.1). All five of these genetic correlation estimates were positive. Two-trait genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for each of these five pairs of traits revealed common regions of association on BTA1 and BTA8 for pairs that included DD or SU as one of the traits, respectively. Other regions of association were unique to the pair of traits and not observed in GWAS for other pairs of traits. The positive genetic correlation estimates between foot disorders and other health disorders imply that selection against foot disorders may also decrease susceptibility to other health disorders. Linkage disequilibrium blocks defined around significant and suggestive SNPs from the two-trait GWAS included genes and QTL that were functionally relevant, supporting that these regions included pleiotropic loci.

Optimising foot health in dairy cattle

This chapter examines optimising foot health in dairy cattle. The chapter begins by reviewing the importance of lameness then goes on to discuss claw horn disruption. It also reviews aetiopathogensis of white line bruising and lesions, which is then followed by a section on aetiopathogensis and control of digital dermatitis. A case study on an 800 cow Holstein herd with a sudden rise in sole ulcers and white line lesions is also included. The chapter concludes with an overview of the emerging diseases in dairy cattle.

Lameness in dairy heifers: a narrative review of control strategies

Lameness is a prevalent condition in mature dairy cows, but the common underlying diseases — sole bruising-sole ulcers, white line lesions and digital dermatitis — invariably arise from management factors in first lactation or rearing. The published evidence would indicate once infected by the Treponemes causing digital dermatitis, heifers retain these bacteria in the skin despite apparent clinical resolution, meaning the emphasis of control should be placed on minimising risk of early life exposure, largely through biocontainment, foot cleaning and foot disinfection. For sole bruising and sole ulcers, there has been a major switch from the acidosis and laminitis-base models of disease, to a biomechanical pathogenesis for claw horn lesions. This has focused attention on the development and preservation of the digital cushion, with the emphasis on preventive strategies combined with early intervention involving anti-inflammatory drugs among other things. This article reviews the evidence-based underpinning the rationale that heifers should be the focus of foot health control, a message that can be challenging to convey when the perceived problem invariably sits with how to deal with chronic, end-stage lesions.

Assessment of udder health in lame cows

The objective of this study was to assess the udder health in lame dairy cows. The study was performed on 35 dairy cows which were admitted to the Clinic of Ruminants. The most frequent claw diseases were white line abscess (28.6%) and toe necrosis (28.6%), followed by digital dermatitis (17.1%), toe ulcers (14.3%), and sole ulcers (11.4%). The prevalence of mastitis in lame cows was 74.3% (26); clinical mastitis was detected in 5 (19.2%) and subclinical mastitis in 21 (80.8%) dairy cows. Distribution of mastitis was similar in terms of front (52.54%) and rear quarters (47.46%). For statistical analyses of mastitis grade in lame dairy cows, a six-point Mastitis Score was created based on physical examination of the mammary gland and results of California Mastitis Test. The Mastitis Score tended to be higher in cows with corium inflammation than in those with digital dermatitis (10.0 and 6.5, respectively). Microbiological culture of 24 positive milk samples was performed and intra-mammary pathogens were isolated in 18 (75%) samples. The most prevalent bacteria were coagulase negative staphylococci (50%), followed by Enterococcus spp. (16.7%), Proteus spp. (11.1%), and Aerococcus viridians (11.1%). Of the total bacteria, contagious pathogens were determined in two milk samples (11.1%). In conclusion, high prevalence of mastitis was detected in lame cows suffering from claw diseases without a significant effect of the type of claw diseases on the mastitis grade. Moreover, the dominating isolation of environmental pathogens may be a result of longer lying period of animals affected with lameness.

Prevalence and distribution of feet lesions in dairy cows raised in the freestall

Foot lesions are one of the main causes of productivity losses in the dairy industry. In this study, we aimed to estimate the prevalence of claudication and distribution of hoof lesions by associating them with preventive hoof trimming, as well as list the main causes of involuntary discarding and the main health problems reported in dairy farms. The study included 10 farms distributed in 7 municipalities of Rio Grande do Sul state. The body condition score (BCS) and locomotion score (LS) of the cows were assessed. Hoof examination, lesion classification, and hoof trimming of the animals were performed. Of the 492 animals, 38.4% presented lameness and 36% had foot lesions, 81.4% of which were observed in the pelvic limbs and 19.6% in the thoracic limbs. Of the lesions in the limbs, 47.1% were of infectious origin and 52.9% were noninfectious. The main lesions were sole ulcers (31.6%), digital dermatitis (30.3%), thin soles (12%), and interdigital dermatitis (11.2%). Cows aged 4 to 6 years had a higher number of lesions and a higher LS. Preventive hoof trimming reduced the chances of lameness by 55% as the locomotive system was the main sanitary problem and the first reason for involuntary disposal of the farms. The results show that dairy cows raised in a free stall system have a high prevalence of claudication and foot diseases. These data should be taken into account when altering the livestock management of these animals in order to reduce significant economic losses in the herd.

Cytokine profile of cattle blood serum in the treatment of the hoof sole ulcers

The paper deals with the results of investigation inflammation markers level ‒ IL-1-RA (receptor antagonist IL-1), IL-4, IL-6 cows serum, patients with soles ulcers when performing orthopedic hoof treatment with two methods ‒ local treatment, and complex method ‒ local treatment in combination with the of epidural analgesia 0,2% bupivacaine. Therapeutic blockade with local anesthetics make analgesic and pathogenetic therapeutic effects on the animal organism, can be successfully used as a component of postoperative analgesia in surgical treatment. Bupivacaine ‒ local anesthetic can be used for epidural analgesia in the postoperative period with the blocking of sensory fibers without loss of motor function. It makes sense to study using of 0,2% bupivacaine solution in clinical conditions with a therapeutic purpose in surgical diseases of cattle. Determination of the level of interleukins is informative in relation to the study of the course of the inflammation process, the immune status of animals during treatment, and indicates the intensity of regenerative processes in damaged tissues. The purpose of the research is to determine the state of inflammatory response to the level of serum blood cytokines in cows with hoof sole ulcers for two treatment methods ‒ local in animals of the control group and integrated treatment in animals of the experimental group, which included local treatment with the therapeutic bupivacaine epidural blocks. In the control group of animals (n=5), only the local treatment. Animals of the experimental group (n=5), conducted an epidural puncture and catheterization between the last sacral and the first caudal vertebrae. The catheter was left in the epidural space. Bupivacaine injection was performed with an analgesic and therapeutic purpose of 0,2 % solution in terms 3 days. After the first injection of bupivacaine, the hoof sole was cleaned and treated locally. As inflammatory markers, the level of IL-1-RA (IL-1 receptor antagonist), IL-4, IL-6 in serum was studied, since the level of these indicators reflects the state of the pro- and anti-inflammatory system. In the course of the research, the obtained results of the control and experimental groups among themselves were compared, with the baseline data before treatment in each group, as well as with the indicators of clinically healthy cows. We conducted a comparative characteristic of indicators in the application of integrated treatment compared with only local treatment of the site of the lesion. Blood was taken from the tail vein. Stages of research: before orthopedic treatment, after orthopedic treatment in 30 minutes, 3 days, 14 days, 34 days after starting treatment. Blood serum tests were conducted in the Laboratory “Alvis-class”, Kharkiv using the semi-automatic immunoassay analyzer StatFax 303+ (USA). It was found that the use of a complex treatment method is accompanied by a lower level of inflammatory reaction of the body of cows compared with only local treatments. In animals of both groups, the level of IL-1RA significantly did not change throughout the study period, compared with the rates before treatment, but was significantly different in both groups of diseased animals (p <0,05 and p <0,01) from the indicator of healthy animals, which is associated with the presence of chronic inflammatory process ‒ hoof sole ulcers. The level of anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-4 in diseased animals prior to treatment did not differ from that of healthy animals. During treatment in animals in the experimental group, this indicator was significantly increased earlier than in the control group, compared with the baseline (p<0,05) and healthy animals (p<0,01), indicating a gradual activation of the anti-inflammatory cytokine and contributed to the tissues regeneration of affected limbs. However, such changes occurred later in the animals of the control group than in the animals of the experimental group. Dynamics of level IL-4 in animals with ulcerous soles is associated with the activation of recovery processes of damaged tissues, which in the experimental group manifested at earlier times than in the control. The content of IL-6 diseased animals, which is the main inducer of the acute phase of inflammation, was significantly higher in both animal groups prior to treatment than in healthy animals. In experimental animals in 3 days the level of IL-6 decreased by 5,3 times, in control ‒ by 3,3 times. After 14 and 34 days in both groups there was a further decrease in the level of IL-6. Considering that IL-6 is the main inducer of the acute phase of inflammation it can be difference in IL-6 level in the animals of the experimental and control groups was due to the effect of the therapeutic epidural blockade of bupivacaine, which increased blood circulation, trophic processes in the limb region, which contributed to accelerating the regeneration of damaged tissues. Key words: hoof sole ulcers, epidural analgesia, bupivacaine, interleukins, IL-1-RA, IL-4, IL-6, cattle.

A longitudinal study of digital cushion thickness and its function as a predictor for compromised locomotion and hoof lesions in Holstein cows

Lameness is a major animal welfare and economic issue for the dairy industry and is a challenge to overcome due to multifaceted causes. Digital cushion thickness (DCT) is a strong predictor of lameness and is phenotypically associated with incidence of claw horn disruption lesions (CHDL; sole ulcers and white line disease). We hypothesized that DCT varies between digits and across lactation within the cow. This variation could be characterized to predict the occurrence of CHDL or compromised locomotion. BCS, visual locomotion score (VLS), DCT, and presence or absence of lesions were collected at 4 time points: &lt;40 d prepartum (DPP), 1 to 30 d in milk (DIM), 90 to 120 DIM, and ≥255 DIM for 183 commercial Holstein cows enrolled in the study. Cows underwent digital sonographic examination for the measurement of DCT evaluated at the typical sole ulcer site beneath the flexor tuberosity for the right front medial and lateral digits and right hind medial and lateral digits. Factors such as parity number and stage in lactation were obtained from farm management software (DairyComp 305; Valley Agricultural Software, Tulare, CA). Cows were grouped by parity: primiparous (parity = 1) or multiparous (parity ≥ 2). The prevalence of CHDL among time points ranged from 0% to 4.2% for primiparous cows vs. 2.5% to 25% for multiparous cows, whereas the prevalence of lameness based on VLS of 3 to 5 ranged from 1.7% to 8.3% for primiparous cows vs. 12.7% to 33% for multiparous cows. DCT varied within primiparous and multiparous cows based on stage of lactation and digit (P &lt; 0.05) and was thicker for both parity groups prior to dry off (≥255 DIM) and thinnest prior to calving (&lt;40 DPP) and after peak lactation (90 to 120 DIM). The DCT of the front medial digit was thickest for primiparous heifers, whereas the hind lateral digit was thickest for multiparous cows. The DCT of the hind medial digit was thinnest for both parity groups. Parity group and DCT of the hind lateral digit &lt;40 DPP were important predictors of CHDL (P &lt; 0.05), whereas parity group and DCT of the hind lateral digit and front lateral digit at 1 to 30 DIM were key predictors of VLS lameness (P &lt; 0.05). These results may help identify animals with higher odds of developing these diseases by highlighting key time points and specific digits of importance for monitoring. In addition, it improves our biological understanding of the relationship between DCT and lameness.

Treponeme-Associated Hoof Disease of Free-Ranging Elk (Cervus elaphus) in Southwestern Washington State, USA

A novel foot disease in free-ranging elk ( Cervus elaphus) in southwestern Washington State emerged in 2008 and spread throughout the region. Initial studies showed adult elk had chronic hoof overgrowth, sole ulcers, and sloughed hoof capsules, but no cause was determined. To identify possible causes and characterize the earliest lesions, 9-, 7-, and 3-month-old elk were collected. Nine-month-old elk had sole ulcers (3/9 elk) and sloughed/overgrown hoof capsules (4/9 elk) similar to adults. Histologically, lesions consisted of coronary, heel bulb, and interdigital ulcers with suppurative inflammation, epithelial hyperplasia, deeply invasive spirochetes, and underrunning of the hoof capsule and heel-sole junction. Spirochetes were identified as Treponema via immunohistochemistry and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Seven-month-old elk had similar underrunning foot ulcers (6/8 elk) with Treponema identified in all lesions but no chronic overgrowth or sloughed hoof capsules. Three-month-old calves had superficial coronary erosions with no inflammation or identifiable spirochetes (3/5 elk) but were culture/PCR positive for Treponema, suggesting possible early lesions. Lesions from 9- and 7-month-old elk included aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, many of which are associated with infectious foot disease in livestock. Antibody enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay of 7- and 3-month-old elk from the enzootic region showed a trend toward increased Treponema antibody titers compared to normal control elk from outside the region, further supporting the significance of Treponema in the pathogenesis of foot disease. Treponeme-associated hoof disease (TAHD) in elk, a debilitating and progressive condition, shares similarities to bovine digital dermatitis and contagious ovine digital dermatitis.