Udder cleft dermatitis and sarcoptic mange in a dairy herd.
OBJECTIVE
To determine prevalence of udder cleft dermatitis in a dairy herd that was experiencing an outbreak of sarcoptic mange.


METHODS
Clinical survey.


METHODS
1,597 Holstein cows and late-gestation heifers.


METHODS
Animals were examined for udder cleft dermatitis and for skin lesions consistent with sarcoptic or chorioptic mange. Skin scrapings were collected from 56 cows and examined for ectoparasites. The herd was revisited 1 year later, and prevalences of udder cleft dermatitis and lesions consistent with mange were determined in 506 cows.


RESULTS
Of the 1,597 cattle examined, 280 (18%) had udder cleft dermatitis, and 1,397 (87.5%) had lesions consistent with mange. In 43 of 56 (77%) cows, skin scrapings revealed Sarcoptes mites. Udder cleft dermatitis was significantly more common in older than in younger cows. In first-lactation cows, udder cleft dermatitis was less common during the first 4 months of lactation than in the later stages of lactation, but udder cleft dermatitis was identified in cows in all stages of lactation and in cows that were not lactating. The herd was treated with eprinomectin to control mites, and prevalence of lesions consistent with mange 1 year later was only 2.8%. However, prevalence of udder cleft dermatitis was still 12%.


CONCLUSIONS
Results suggest that cows in any stage of lactation and cows that are not lactating can have udder cleft dermatitis but that lesions are more common in older cows. Control of sarcoptic mange was accompanied by a moderate reduction in the prevalence of udder cleft dermatitis but did not eliminate the condition.
Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
Lorin D
LD
Warnick
Daryl
D
Nydam
Ana
A
Maciel
Charles L
CL
Guard
Susan E
SE
Wade
D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D003872:Dermatitis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000662:veterinary*; D005260:Female; D007306:Insecticides / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007559:Ivermectin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008321:Mammary Glands, Animal / Q000382:microbiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012532:Scabies / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*
D007306:Insecticides; D007559:Ivermectin; C101434:eprinomectin