About

Our research group studies a relatively new cause of lameness in sheep in the UK called contagious ovine digital dermatitis (CODD).

CODD is a very severe form of lameness in sheep, and farmers are keen to know how to treat and prevent the disease. We have been investigating various aspects of CODD including the cause (aetiology), the damage it causes to the feet (pathology), patterns of disease on farms (epidemiology), how the disease spreads (transmission) and its treatment.

The following pages are a summary of our recent research work, we don’t have all the answers on CODD but we do have a few and our research is continuing so watch this space.

At the end we provide a summary of recommendations for the control of CODD, however, because the specific situation can vary on each farm it is very important that you discuss any disease control plans first with your own veterinary surgeon.

Duncan, JS, Angell, JW, Carter, SD, Evans, NJ, Sullivan, LE & Grove-White, DH. Contagious ovine digital dermatitis: An emerging disease. The Veterinary Journal. 2013;201(3):265-268

Lame sheep with codd

Back to: Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences