EPIDEMIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF LAMENESS IN SELECTED DAIRY FARMS OF SULULTA TOWN, CENTRAL ETHIOPIA
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Date
2018-06
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Abstract
A repeated cross-sectional study was carried out from November 2017 to May 2018 in selected dairy farms of Sululta town, central Ethiopia with the aim of investigating the Epidemiology of lameness in dairy cattle and the impact of lameness on the milk yield. A total number of 245 dairy cattle were clustered within 15 randomly selected dairy farms. In order to determine the prevalence of lameness, a locomotion scoring system described by Sprecher et al. (1997) was conducted. One or more cases of lameness was observed in eight farms making the herd level prevalence of 53.33% (95% CI, 28.09 - 78.58). The prevalence of lameness was significantly varried between the farms, ranging from 0 % to 42.86%, with a mean within-herd level prevalence of 20.96% (p = 0.000). The overall animal level prevalence of lameness was found to be 8.98% (95% CI, 5.39 - 12.56). This prevalence could be invariably associated with some of the risk factors. Accordingly, multivariable logistic regression analysis result showed that the odds of lameness was 5.13 times more likely to occur in animals of dairy farms with no routine hoof trimming practices as compared to animals in dairy farms with hoof trimming practices (OR = 5.13; 95% CI, 1.34 to 19.57). Similarly, the odds of lameness was 4.32 times more likely to occur in dairy cattle kept under wet & crackly floor type as compared to animals in clean and dry floor type (OR = 4.32; CI, 1.13 – 16.58). The average daily milk yield/cow was found to be significantly declined by 4.22 liters with the case of lameness (p = 0.000). In conclusion, lameness was underestimated dairy cattle health problem in the study area; and the prevalence of lameness was found to be beyond the expected level in some of the farms which deserves attention concerning to the prevention of the problem.
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A Thesis Submitted to the College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture of Addis Ababa University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Veterinary Epidemiology
Keywords
Dairy farms, Epidemiology, Lameness