Footrot

Footrot management

  • Footrot is a notifiable disease and sheep infected or suspected of being infected with any form of footrot must not be moved within or into the state without Chief Inspector of Stock (CIS) permission. Find out more about moving sheep.
  • Interstate sheep infected or suspected of being infected with any form of footrot are not permitted to enter South Australia without CIS permission
  • The July 2019 version of the NSHD must be completed for all movements of sheep within and into South Australia and you must declare all forms of footrot; both benign and virulent.
  • There will be increased ability for infected producers to trade sheep based on their flock's diagnosis. Buyer beware means you need to check the status of animals before you purchase – check the NVD and NSHD. Movement restrictions into South Australia remain in place.

What is footrot

Footrot is a contagious bacterial disease in sheep. Footrot is classified as inflammation of the interdigital skin and potential under-running of the hoof caused by the bacteria Dichelobacter nodosus (D. nodosus).

It can cause significant economic loss to producers through reducing:

  • ewe fertility
  • wool growth
  • growth rates
  • sheep sales.

Controlling or eradicating footrot can be costly; however, the long term benefit of eradicating footrot from a flock far outweighs the cost.

Footrot is a notifiable disease and suspicion of any form of footrot must be reported immediately.

Development of footrot

Like all diseases, there are 3 main factors that affect the development and severity of footrot in a flock:

  • Agent in the case of footrot this is the bacteria D. nodosus and the potential virulence of the strain of D. nodosus present in the flock.
  • Host – how susceptible the sheep in the flock are to footrot. No breeds of sheep are resistant to footrot, but some are more susceptible than others.
  • Environment – footrot requires warm moist conditions to develop and adequate pasture length to enable transmission of the bacteria from sheep to sheep.

The map below shows areas of South Australia where footrot investigations have recently occurred.

Areas where footrot investigations have occurred 2004 to 2020

How footrot is diagnosed

There are 2 main ways to diagnose footrot in a flock. Both require the inspection of a significant number of sheep:

  • Clinical diagnosis – where it is possible to inspect sheep during a 'spread period' (warm, moist with adequate pasture length) hooves can be inspected and pared to reveal the most severely affected sheep in the flock. The percentage of sheep suffering severe footrot lesions can then be used to form a diagnosis of benign or virulent footrot.
  • Laboratory based diagnosis – the time of year, local climate and other management factors do not always allow for an accurate clinical diagnosis, especially during dry times or in traditionally drier parts of the state. For this reason the South Australian Footrot Management program utilises a laboratory test called the 'Elastase test' to assign a flock diagnosis. By submitting samples from multiple infected sheep across the flock, the Elastase test can return results which indicate how severe a footrot infection may be under ideal development conditions.

When a flock has footrot

If a flock has been detected with footrot, there are movement restrictions that apply under the South Australian Livestock Act 1997.

When there is a suspicion a flock has severe virulent footrot, sheep:

  • cannot be sold to other graziers
  • must not be sold in a public market
  • must not be allowed to stray onto public roads or neighbouring properties.

Sheep with footrot can be sold directly to an abattoir for slaughter or slaughter through an approved feedlot. They must be fit to load being able to bear weight on all 4 feet prior to transport.

Feedlots approved to take sheep from infected properties

For details of feedlots approved to take sheep from infected properties, contact:

Footrot Program Manager
Phone: (08) 8568 6400

Become an approved footrot contractor

Livestock contractors in South Australia can now participate in a training process to gain an approved footrot contractor status from PIRSA. View a list of approved contractors below.

To register for this training contact:

Footrot Program Manager
Phone: (08) 8568 6400

Approved contractors

Clare

Cook Pastoral
Adrian
Phone: 0402 295 148 or 0427 699 445
Email: cookpastoral@gmail.com

Kangaroo Island

Agvet Services (Kingscote)
Debra Lehmann
Phone: 0427 076 624
Email: deb@kangarooislandvet.com

Lynette Frick 
Phone: 0476 910 634
Email: lynettefrick@gmail.com

Ted Speed
Phone: 0428 776 544
ted24@adam.com.au

Keyneton

Treloar Farms Rural Contracting
Phone: 0427 812 420
Email: jktreloar@bigpond.com

Naracoorte

GO Livestock Service
Phone: 0407 112 224
Email: golivestock@bigpond.com

South east

George and Belinda Mulraney
Phone: 0429 159 018
Email: molbray109@gmail.com

Strathalbyn

LR & ST Woolfitt Rural Contracting
Phone: 0417 878 964
Email: lrwoolie@hotmail.com

Willalooka

Tatiara Livestock Contracting
Russell Kamp
Phone:  0418 927 984
Email: russ@rwkpastoral.com.au

Kim Parker
Phone: 0457 557 086
Email: kim@rwkpastoral.com.au

Learn more about managing footrot

Emergency Animal Disease Hotline

Suspected disease or pests in livestock, poultry or aquatic animals must be reported immediately.

Call us to help stop the spread of animal illness, even if you are unsure of the disease.

24 hours a day, 7 days a week

Freecall 1800 675 888
Page last reviewed: 15 Nov 2023

 


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