LAMENESS CAUSED BY FOOT ABSCESS'

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25080, 11 January 1947, Page 5

LAMENESS CAUSED BY FOOT ABSCESS'

When widespread outbreaks of lameness in sheep in several Australian States were investigated by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. most of the cases were found to be “foot abscess.” as distinct from foot-rot. The outbreaks have been associated with an abnormally wet autumn after a dry period, as in 1939 and 1936, in which circumstances many owners had 10 per cent, or more of the older sheep seriously lame. Foot abscess is caused by a germ commonly found in the bowel of domesticated animals. In the seasonal conditions described, the dry. brittle, and often overgrown hooves of older sheep which are constantly in contact with dung-saturated mud on camping grounds and on the surface of better pastures are open to abscess infection, whereas the young sheep’s elastic, bright hooves provide an armour against germ-infection. This and the fact that generally only one or two claws on a foot are infected serve to distinguish the condition from footrot.

The alarm of Australian breeders was unwarranted. Unlike foot-rot, the disease is not highly contagious (though it may be troublesome and cause a small mortality) and disappears of its own accord within a few. months. It is likely to occur only in the conditions outlined. Risk of infection is reduced by attention to the paring and trimming of hooves of older sheep before the autumn rains. While prevention methods are the recommended policy, relief to lame sheep may be given by detection and release of pus beneath the horn, preferably in the early stages.