Zinpro Corporation, a developer of organic trace minerals, has introduced Availa®Plus, a trace minerals product which offers US dairy and beef producers a new approach towards managing livestock foot health.

According to Socha, the product contains a unique combination of complex zinc, manganese, copper, cobalt (obtained from Zinpro Performance Minerals^®) and potassium iodide.

"Improving trace mineral nutrition within a well-fortified diet has been shown to help cattle build stronger skin integrity and a more empowered immune system from inside out," he noted. "The bacteria which are thought to cause digital dermatitis have the ability to penetrate into deeper layers of the skin, so building a more resilient barrier against the bacteria is key to preventing the disease from taking hold."

Digital dermatitis produces painful lesions which can lead to lameness in dairy and beef cattle. Such impact on animal performance is costly and leads to decreased milk production and poor reproductive performance in dairy cattle.

"Digital dermatitis is the most prevalent infectious claw lesion on the globe," said Dörte Döpfer who, together with Arturo Gomez Rivas, led research efforts at the University of Wisconsin to investigate the efficacy of Availa-Plus in decreasing digital dermatitis prevalence.

Socha said that the research showed the improvement of skin integrity after feeding trace minerals from a more highly available source. "Because digital dermatitis occurs following a disruption in the skin/pathogen border, we had an idea that skin integrity plays an important role in helping make this border more resilient."

Döpfer noted that research results indicated significant differences between pre-calving dairy heifers fed the DD Premix Formula with Availa-Plus, and heifers fed a control diet.

"There are essentially two periods during the development of the disease when it can be prevented and controlled immediately. It must either be prevented before it infects an animal or during the early stages of lesion development," she said. She added that treating digital dermatitis without recurrence of lesions is extremely difficult once the disease progresses and reaches the chronic stage.