Surveying bovine digital dermatitis and non-healing bovine foot lesions for the presence of and .

Background: Non-healing bovine foot lesions, including non-healing white line disease, non-healing sole ulcer and toe necrosis, are an increasingly important cause of chronic lameness that are poorly responsive to treatment. Recent studies have demonstrated a high-level association between these non-healing lesions and the phylogroups implicated in bovine digital dermatitis (BDD). However, a polymicrobial aetiology involving other gram-stain-negative anaerobes is suspected.

Methods: A PCR-based bacteriological survey of uncomplicated BDD lesions (n=10) and non-healing bovine foot lesions (n=10) targeting , and was performed.

Results: DNA was detected in 80.0% of the non-healing lesion biopsies (p=<0.001) but was entirely absent from uncomplicated BDD lesion biopsies. When compared to the BDD lesions, was detected at a higher frequency in the non-healing lesions (33.3% vs 70.0%, respectively), whereas was detected at a lower frequency (55.5% vs 20.0%, respectively). Conversely, DNA was not detected in either lesion type.

Conclusion: The data from this pilot study suggest that and should be further investigated as potential aetiological agents of non-healing bovine foot lesions. A failure to detect syphilis treponemes in either lesion type is reassuring given the potential public health implications such an infection would present.