Vet World Vol.10 March-2017 Article-15
Research Article
Veterinary World, 10(3): 358-362
https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2017.358-362
Association of claw disorders with subclinical intramammary infections in Egyptian dairy cows
2. Directorate of Veterinary Medicine, Sharkia Branch, Zagazig, Sharkia Province, Egypt.
3. Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, DK-1870 Frederiksberg C, Denmark.
4. Department of Animal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University, 44511 Zagazig, Sharkia Province, Egypt.
Background and Aim: Bovine mastitis and lameness are the most common production diseases affecting dairy farms worldwide resulting in huge economic impact and impaired animal welfare. The objective of this field study was to investigate the association of infectious and non-infectious claw disorders with the occurrence of subclinical intramammary infections (IMIs) diagnosed by California mastitis test (CMT) in dairy cows under Egyptian conditions.
Materials and Methods: A total of 43 dairy cows were included in this field study. Subclinical IMI was diagnosed by CMT on all lactating quarters of cows. A cow was considered to have subclinical IMI if it had at least one subclinically infected quarter (=3). Cows were inspected carefully for claw disorders that recorded based on type and site. Locomotion and body condition scores were also recorded for each cow in addition to the limb affected. The association between the CMT and other explanatory variables was tested by Fisher's exact test.
Results: The prevalence of infectious and non-infectious claw disorders was 81.4% (35/43) and 32.6% (14/43), respectively. Digital dermatitis (DD) and heel horn erosion were the most prevalent infectious type with 79% (34/43) and 58% (25/43), respectively, while wall fissure was the most identified non-infectious one 11.6% (5/43). The prevalence of claw disorders in hind limbs was 88.4% (38/43) and 11.6% (5/43) in the forelimbs. Infectious claw disorders were significantly associated with the subclinical IMI diagnosed by CMT (p<0.05). Non-infectious claw affections, locomotion score, body condition score, and the affected limb had no association with the occurrence of subclinical IMI.
Conclusion: DD is the highest prevalent claw disorder observed in dairy cows in Egypt. The hind limbs are more susceptible to claw disorders than the forelimbs. Infectious type of claw disorders is significantly associated with subclinical IMI diagnosed by CMT in dairy cows under Egyptian conditions indicating that the infectious types of claw affections may influence the udder health. Keywords: claw affections, dairy cows, digital dermatitis, subclinical mastitis.
Keywords: claw affections, dairy cows, digital dermatitis, subclinical mastitis.
How to cite this article: Refaai W, Gad M, Mahmmod Y (2017) Association of claw disorders with subclinical intramammary infections in Egyptian dairy cows, Veterinary World, 10(3): 358-362.
Received: 03-11-2016 Accepted: 14-02-2017 Published online: 28-03-2017
Corresponding author: Yasser Mahmmod E-mail: yasser@sund.ku.dk
DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2017.358-362
Copyright: Refaai, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.