Welcome!

Welcome to Footrot Sydney!

This website is an initiative of the Footrot team in the School of Veterinary Science at The University of Sydney. This website is intended to provide a set of technical resources for veterinarians, animal health officers and producers for whom footrot is a concern.

The University of Sydney has been conducting research on footrot for over 50 years, which has led to the creation of a significant body of knowledge and furthered our understanding of the control and treatment of the disease, as well as the complex host, pathogen and environmental factors that contribute to the disease process.

Since the introduction of State-based control programmes, such as the New South Wales Footrot Strategic Plan, significant progress has been made in controlling the most virulent forms of the disease. However, in recent years the prevalence of footrot has begun to increase. In New South Wales, for example, the prevalence of footrot has increased, particularly in the Central West, with approximately 45 properties under quarantine as of August, 2017. Despite producers not having seen footrot in their flocks in recent years, and despite dry conditions, the disease has continued to spread, with one case recently reported in the far-west of New South Wales.

The prevalence of low-virulent (intermediate) forms of footrot has increased substantially, particularly in south-eastern New South Wales, as the . Low-virulent footrot is poorly understood; consequently, differentiating low-virulent footrot, which is not subject to regulatory control, from virulent footrot, which is regulated in most States, is a challenge for veterinarians and diagnosticians. With a loss of technical staff due to natural attrition, there has also been a loss of first-hand technical knowledge, and new staff members have highlighted an emerging knowledge gap.

The New South Wales Department of Primary Industries and Local Land Services have been approached by field veterinarians and animal health officers seeking additional resources to address the emerging knowledge gap and to support veterinarians and animal health officers in districts with a high prevalence of low-virulent footrot. This website was conceived by the Footrot group at The University of Sydney as a means of addressing this knowledge gap. This website will provide comprehensive, up-to-date technical resources.

We regularly publish new information about footrot in Australian and international scientific journals – please see the page “Scientific Publications”.