A cross-sectional study of the prevalence of lameness and digital dermatitis in dairy cattle herds in Egypt

Abstract

Abstract Background lameness is a significant problem of the dairy industry worldwide. No previous studies have evaluated the prevalence of lameness or digital dermatitis (DD) in dairy cattle herds in Egypt. A total of 16,098 dairy cows from 55 dairy herds in 11 Egyptian Governorates underwent visual locomotion scoring using a 4-point scoring system. Cows that had a lameness score ≥ 2 were considered clinically lame. Following manure removal with water and using a flashlight, the cows’ hid feet were examined in the milking parlour to identify and M-score DD lesions. Furthermore, each cow was assigned a hock score (a 3-point scale) and a hygiene score (a 4-point scale). The cow-level, within-and between-herd prevalence of lameness and digital dermatitis and associated 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. The prevalence of hock lesions and poor cow hygiene was also calculated. Results Of the examined cows, 6,883 cows were found to be clinical lame (42.8%, 95% CI = 42–43.5%). The average within-herd prevalence of lameness was 43.1% (95% CI = 35.9–50.3%). None of the dairy herds recruited into the study was found to be free from clinical lameness. The average within-herd prevalence of DD was 6.4% (95% CI = 4.9–8%). The herd-level prevalence of DD was 92.7% (95% CI = 85.9–99.6%). Active DD lesions (M1, M2, M4.1) were identified in 464 cows (2.9%) while inactive lesions (M3, M4) were identified in 559 cows (3.5%). The within-herd prevalence of hock lesions (score 2 or 3) was 12.6% (95% CI = 4.03–21.1%) while a severe hock lesion had within-herd prevalence of 0.31% (95% CI = 0.12–0.51%). Cow-level prevalence of hock lesions was 6.2% (n = 847, 95% CI = 5.8–6.2%). Majority of examined cows had a hygiene score 4 (n = 10,814, prevalence = 70.3%, 95% CI = 69.5–71%). Conclusions The prevalence of lameness was higher than reported prevalence estimates in other countries which could be due to differing management and/or environmental factors. DD was identified at lower prevalence in most herds. Poor cow hygiene was notable in most herds. There should be measures to reduce the prevalence of lameness and to improve cow hygiene in dairy cattle herds in Egypt.