Lameness in dairy cattle poses both an animal welfare and economic threat to dairy farms. Although the Canadian dairy industry has identified lameness as the most important health issue, lameness prevalence in the province of Alberta has not decreased over the last decade. Factors related to lameness have been reported, but the prevalence remains high. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate dairy producers' perceptions on lameness and how these perceptions influence lameness prevalence in their cows. Qualitative interviews with open-ended questions were conducted with nine dairy producers in Alberta, Canada presenting farms with a wide variety of lameness prevalence. Thematic analysis of these interviews revealed five major themes, as well as five distinct types of producers regarding their perceptions. All nine producers mentioned similar challenges with lameness prevention and control. Identifying lameness, taking action, delays in achieving success, various approaches to prevention and control strategies, and differences between farms were the challenges encountered. However, producers' attitudes when dealing with these challenges varied. We concluded that understanding producers' perceptions is essential as no “one size fits all”, when advising them regarding how to address lameness, as guidance and support will be most successful when it is aligned with their viewpoint.
Background: Blackleg and gas gangrene are acute clostridial infections primarily affecting cattle. The objectives of this study were to identify (i) animalrelated factors influencing the occurrence and (ii) prognostic pathological findings supporting the differentiation of fatal blackleg and gas gangrene cases in the cattle population from 1998 to 2018 in Styria, Austria. Methods: Two binomial logistic models were applied to analyse the research questions. Additionally, cross-validations were performed to estimate the accuracy of the predictive models. Results: Model results show that animal-related factors (i.e., age, geographical discovery location of dead cattle, vaccination status) significantly influence the occurrence of blackleg when compared to gas gangrene. Pathological findings are similar for both diseases. Conclusions: Model results reveal that using animal-related factors has a better accuracy to predict the fatal cases caused by both pathogens. Thus, the authors recommend not relying on pathological findings as predictive factors in the differentiation between blackleg and gas gangrene in cattle.
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