January 17, 2011

US research team to minimise cattle lameness

Ten to 20% of US cattle are afflicted with lameness at any particular time, which makes the disorder one of the most common ones affecting livestock and its feeding areas.

Hence, a Kansas State University research team is working to bring down the percentage of cattle affected by bovine lameness.

Three researchers, David Anderson, professor of clinical sciences; Brad White, associate professor of clinical sciences; and Johann Coetzee, associate professor of clinical sciences, are involved with bovine pain and welfare assessment at K-State's College of Veterinary Medicine. Their efforts to understand and treat lameness in cattle make them prospective leaders in this critically important bovine research.

The team is developing a model to assess lameness and identify possible ways to treat it. Lameness can be excruciatingly painful for cattle and is caused by a variety of factors, including nutrition, environment and infectious organisms, Mr Anderson said. When damage to the hoof and sole results in ulcers, abscesses or infection of the deep tissue of the foot, it causes severe pain during weight bearing.

The goal of their research is to identify risk factors for the prevention of lameness, validate tools for early detection, develop recommendations for effective treatment, and ultimately improve the health and welfare of cattle.

Anderson is working on pressure map technology, which is a way of measuring the weight bearing and method of stride. White is working on accelerometry, which involves using monitors to measure the behavioural responses of animals. Mr White can monitor an animal for 24 hours to determine how much time it spends lying down, moving around or standing still.

Coetzee, a pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics specialist, is working to analyse indicators of pain in the blood and analysing drugs to determine the dosage to reduce pain.

So far the researchers have developed ways to assess lameness. They are now looking at therapeutic models and identifying drugs – such as flunixin and meloxicam – that could help ameliorate pain and lameness.