Welcome

Bovine Digital Dermatitis (also known as Mortellaro’s disease, papillomatous digital dermatitis and hairy foot/heel warts) is a highly contagious and frequent cause of lameness in cattle and affects both dairy and beef herds.

Large, intensely painful focal lesions on one or both hind feet are typical of BDD, and this disease is noted for its poor treatment response and frequent recurrence in affected animals.

Here at the University of Liverpool, our dedicated team of veterinary scientists and clinicians are attempting to understand more about the bacteria that cause this disease, how BDD spreads between both individual animals and herds and most importantly, how to prevent further transmission.

We have put together this website to raise awareness of BDD and provide you with a summary of our very latest research findings.

At the end of this website, we have also provided a Standard Operating Protocol (SOP) for the cleaning of hoof-trimming equipment, which we feel will make a substantial impact on disease transmission.

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