The cure rate of individual chlortetracycline spray treatment on digital dermatitis in dairy cattle

Abstract

Digital dermatitis is a worldwide occurring foot disorder in cattle which can cause huge economic losses and welfare problems. In the Netherlands about 21% of dairy cows suffer from this multifactorial disease which affects cattle of all ages. The standard individual treatment for digital dermatitis exists of a topical administration of CTC® spray, with the antibiotic chlortetracycline as its active compound. A critical look at antibiotic treatments like CTC® spray is taken due to increasing awareness of antibiotic resistance.

The aim of this study was to investigate the cure rate of CTC® spray and to find out if CTC® spray is an effective standard treatment for digital dermatitis. During this research project 141 claws with a painful ulcerative digital dermatitis lesion (M2) on 7 farms were treated with a topical administration of CTC® spray on day 0. The cure rate of the spray is based on the score of the digital dermatitis lesion on day 10. Every lesion scored different than M2 on this day was seen as healed.

From the total amount of 141 claws, 64 lesions were healed on day 10. The average cure rate is 45.39% with a spread from 15.38% to 70.00%. The cure rate seems to be lowered by outlying observations on two different farms. There were circumstances seen on these two farms that might explain why the cure rate was low, like a humid environment. Nevertheless, the cure rate on all farms is still rather low for a standard treatment of digital dermatitis.