Disinfecting foot trimming equipment

Lameness caused by infectious disease, such as digital dermatitis, can be spread between feet and cattle on contaminated equipment. Find out how to properly disinfect knives to reduce the spread of infectious diseases.

This protocol has been shown to remove viable bacteria from foot-trimming knives and user gloves. This will minimise the spread of digital dermatitis via this route.

As some (~12.5%) healthy feet may have subclinical digital dermatitis, this protocol should always be used during foot trimming, i.e. when trimming feet with any signs of digital dermatitis (including healed), any other foot/claw horn presentations and also healthy feet.

This procedure should be used, together with additional control strategies such as routine foot bathing and effective slurry management, to help prevent the spread of digital dermatitis.

1. Before use, make sure all knives are free from faecal material and visible dirt. Fill the container with suitable disinfectant and then submerge the blades for at least 20 seconds.
2. After trimming each foot, clean your hands and knives by swilling in the bucket of soapy water to remove visible dirt.
3. Dry knives with a paper towel. This will also help to remove the visible dirt.
4. Return the knife blades to the disinfectant for at least 20 seconds before next use.
5. To minimise disruption to workflow, use alternate pairs of knives for each foot, leaving the first pair in disinfectant.

Getting prepared

One option is to wear arm-length gloves with wrist-length gloves over the top so they can be easily changed when damaged.

Wrist protectors can still be worn over the arm-length gloves, as only hand gloves would be changed as needed.

Equipment needed

• Arm-length disposable gloves
• Wrist-length disposable gloves
• Bucket of soapy water
• Two pairs of clean hoof knives
• Container for disinfectant

Disinfectant: 2% Virkon, 2% sodium hypochlorate or 1% FAM30 are suitable for this purpose.

Useful links