Evaluation of Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) Used in Footbaths as Treatment and Prevention of Digital Dermatitis in Dairy Cattle

Summary

The effectiveness of a footbath with a calcium carbonate (CaCO3) suspension was evaluated as treatment and prevention of digital dermatitis (DD) in four commercial dairy herds. DD is a serious problem in dairy herds in many countries including Denmark. Footbaths have been the preferred method for treating and preventing DD. Different compounds have been used in these, most og them chemical disinfectants aimed at reducing bacterial infection. However many of these compounds have no proven effect against DD. Others have effect against DD but are either harmful to humans, cows or the environment.
The objective of this study was to evaluate calcium carbonate (CaCO3) used in footbaths as treatment and prevention of DD.
The study was done as a clinical trial in four commercial Danish dairy herds with a total of 485 cows. The treatment was done in a split footbath which allowed for one side of the cow to be treated and the other to function as negative control. DD lesions were registered in a hoof trimming chute at the beginning og the study and again after 8 weeks treatment. The start prevalence of DD in the forelegs was 7.8% on treatment legs and 4.3% control legs and 40.5% and 39.1%, respectively in the hind legs. All lactating cows within herds were treated once a day three days a week.
Cure was defined as a change from active DD at the first registration to inactive after 8 weeks. The preven-tive effect was evaluated from the number of new cases of DD, defined as going from inactive to active.
The results in this study show that CaCO3 used in footbaths had no preventive- or treatment effect on DD. There was no statistical significant difference between treatment- and control legs after 8 weeks treatment.