Blackleg and rot foot
 

Is there a relationship between blackleg and rot foot? I have heard that when you see a cow or cows who have rot foot and have young calves on the ground, that is when the calves are receptive to getting blackleg. Is this true? Both organisms live in the ground from what I understand, but I was unsure if both were caused by the same organism.

her is a useful website to answer all your veterinary queries. Hope it helps
http://cattletoday.info/blackleg.htm

You will find information on Blackleg here:

http://www.thecattlesite.com/diseaseinfo/187/blackleg

And Foot Rot here:

http://www.thecattlesite.com/disease...-rot-in-cattle

Hi AR Farmer,
Blackleg is a specific disease caused by a bacteria called Clostridium chauvoei and usually affects grazing cattle although it can be found in contaminated feed. It can be fatal and this is why we usually vaccinate our girls against it.

Foot rot however covers a variety of complaints, everything from 'Fouls' to 'Interdigital Fibroma' to 'Digital Dermatitis', all caused by different bacterium and therefore requiring a different treatment regime.

Blackleg usually affects the whole leg [hence it's name] while Foot rot affects just the hoof, however if left untreated most Foot rot bacteria can spread and infect the inner muscle/bone and then require partial amputation of the infected claw.

Fingers crossed you never encounter any of these complaints, they all cause lameness and a drop in milk production due to the pain and for this reason need a fast reaction to treatment when observed.

Jon

Your information helps a lot :)
A degenerative bacterial infection of the feet in certain hoofed animals, especially cattle or sheep, often resulting in loss of the hoof.