Lameness due to toe-tip necrosis syndrome in beef calves

WE would like to report an outbreak of lameness in a herd of beef cattle which appears identical to the syndrome known in North American feedlot yards as toe-tip necrosis syndrome (TTNS) (Greenough 2007, Gyan and others 2015). Gyan and others (2015) describe the syndrome as typically affecting the hindfeet of weaned beef calves within days/weeks of processing and arrival on feedlots. The condition has a low incidence of between 0.01 per cent to 1.3 per cent, but affected calves are severely lame due to infection of the apical corium, distal tip of the pedal bone (toe-tip necrosis [TTN]) and associated complications, including septic arthritis, tendonitis and cellulitis. The current hypothesis is that TTN is preceded by apical white line separation caused by traumatic damage/excessive wear and classical laminitis is not a feature of the disease. A group of around 100 homebred spring-born...
Source: Veterinary Record - Category: Veterinary Research Authors: Tags: Letter Source Type: research