Accelerating best practice management for ovine footrot in Australia

Summary

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Footrot is a contagious bacterial disease that affects the feet of sheep and goats, caused by the pathogen Dichelobacter nodosus. Outbreaks of disease can occur under warm, moist environmental conditions and carrier sheep can provide a long-term source of infection and lead to endemic disease prevalence in a flock. There are multiple strains of Dichelobacter nodosus, causing varying degrees of disease severity, which is also influenced by host and environmental factors.

Virulent footrot can cause severe lameness, pain and debilitation in sheep, and significantly increase the risk of flystrike. Footrot is thus a threat to the sheep and goat industry’s ‘social license to operate’ due to its negative impact on animal health and welfare. There are significant economic losses associated with this disease because of reduced wool growth and quality, reduced weight gain, reduced overall animal value, impacts on reproduction, and costs of treatment. For some states of Australia, virulent footrot is a notifiable disease. This can place producers and veterinarians in challenging positions and may result in inadequate management of disease outbreaks and infected animals. In terms of treatment, anti-microbials are often employed, the use of which needs to be considered with regards to antimicrobial stewardship.

Footrot is a ‘one welfare’ issue, affecting sheep and goats, producers, veterinarians, and the environment. The perceived stigma associated with footrot infection contributes to the complexity of preventing or reducing the negative impacts of the disease. This project will address current research gaps to accelerate best practice management regarding control and treatment of footrot in Australia.

Supervisor

Dr Dominique Van der Saag.

Research location

Sydney School of Veterinary Science - Generic

Synopsis

This project will address current research gaps to accelerate best practice management regarding control and treatment of footrot in Australia, through establishing scientific evidence for education and developments in prevention and treatment practices. The aims of the project are:

1. To better understand current practices regarding footrot detection, control and treatment strategies.
2. To measure the animal welfare implications and production losses caused by the disease, considering variable treatment protocols.
3. To further develop more effective disease treatment, management and prevention strategies and protocols.

This project will improve sheep welfare and provide producers with clear guidelines for management of ovine footrot, to improve production systems.

Additional information

• This PhD position is funded through the McCaughey Memorial Institute PhD Scholarship, provided as a gift from the McCaughey Memorial Institute, to be awarded for a period of up to 3.5 years.
• The project requires interstate travel for experimentation purposes and therefore a valid Australian driver's license is preferable.
• The project involves animal studies using sheep. Q-fever vaccination is advised.

Project keywords: Dichelobacter nodosus; footrot; production; sheep; welfare.

Research program: PhD project

Research location: Centre for Carbon, Water & Food (Camden Campus)

Scholarship opportunity: The McCaughey Memorial Institute PhD Scholarship.

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Opportunity ID

The opportunity ID for this research opportunity is 3419