Mud fever is caused by the bacteria dermatophilus congolensis which lives in the soil and can infect damaged skin. This damage can be caused by wounds and grazes or continual wetting of the skin, hence it being most commonly seen in wet and muddy conditions. |
Signs:
The signs of mud fever are matting of the hair and scab formation around the heel region and pasterns of horses' legs. Mud fever is more commonly seen on white legs.
Occasionally the bacteria can infect the deeper tissues and cause swelling of the limb and sometimes lameness. |
Diagnosis:
The characteristic signs of mud fever are usually enough for a diagnosis to be made, however, the bacteria can be grown in a lab from a sample of the affected area. |
Treatment:
The initial treatment in mud fever cases is to remove the horse from pasture if this is possible. Then the legs should be thoroughly washed with an antiseptic solution such as hibiscrub or pevidine and all the scabs removed. In some cases the leg may need to clipped to achieve this adequately.
An antibiotic cream should be applied to the areas twice a day. Your vet will prescribe you a cream for this purpose, I tend to use Flamazine cream or Fuciderm.
In cases where the legs have become very swollen or the animal is lame a course of antibiotics can be given.
This treatment should be carried out until the scabs have completely healed. |
Prevention:
The best method of treating mud fever is to prevent it from happening in the first place. To do this any mud on your horse's legs should be allowed to dry and brushed off. The legs can be washed off providing they are thoroughly dried afterwards.
Any scabs or cuts on the legs should be closely monitored and treatment initiated quickly to prevent mud fever taking hold. |
Lameness
