An evaluation of the eradication program on footrot in sheep in Norway and its welfare aspect

Abstract

Footrot was detected in Norway for the first time since 1948 in 2008. The same year an eradication program was started, and this program is extended to last out 2014. In the period from 2008 to 2014 virulent footrot has been diagnosed in 119 sheep flocks in Norway, 105 of them in the south-west county Rogaland. It is categorized as a «list B» disease in Norway and it is notifiable to the authorities. In Norway there has been some discussion about the eradication program and its work, one of the subject is regarding the cost of the program. In the period 2008-2014 the eradication program Healthy Feet had a total budged on around 33 millions Norwegian kroner and the compensation had a budged on around 17 millions Norwegian kroner. Footrot is regarded as a welfare and economical disease and a cost-benefit analysis is in progress and there has been performed a two week long trial where objective parameters regarding the animal welfare has been measured. The cost-benefit analysis have showed that the mean income and productivity have not changed in the affected sheep flocks in Norway, probably due to the fast handling and the time of the clinical expression of the disease compared to the breeding methods in Norway. There were a two week long trial done in 2013 and only mild clinical signs developed. In this early stage heart rate variability decreased om connection with the footrot infection and then it increased after the treatment. Faecal cortisol metabolites were measured, first increased before it decreased after treatment. This indicates that even an early stage of footrot cause pain and stress, thus affecting the animal welfare of sheep.