A study on digital diseases of cattle in Morocco.

ABSTRACT

Digital diseases of cattle, as defined by the "International Council on Digital Diseases of the Ruminants" were studied on 32 farms with various management systems in Morocco. This study involved 953 cattle without lameness for claw examination and 89 lame cattle for detailed clinical examination and semiological trimming of the eight claws. Claw deformities, interdigital dermatitis and ungular erosion, chronic diffuse aseptic pododermatitis, circumscribed pododermatitis and deep digital diseases were described regarding their prevalence and clinical characteristics, including their distribution on fore and hind limbs, and on antero-medial, antero-lateral, postero-medial and postero-lateral claws. Interrelationships between different digital diseases and relationships between some digital diseases and environmental factors were searched by correlation studies. The results are compared with the characteristics of the same digital diseases in other countries.