ETIOLOGY OF OVINE FOOTROT IN SPAIN

Four hundred and sixty strains of obligate anaerobes were isolated fro m 216 cases of ovine footrot distributed throughout Spain, The predomi nant species was Dichelobacter nodosus, which was isolated in 168 case s (77.8 per cent). A higher proportion of the strains of D nodosus tha n of the other strains had elastolytic activity, 118 of the 168 strain s degrading elastin, Species belonging to the genus Prevotella were is olated from 96 cases (44.4 per cent). Serotyping of the D nodosus stra ins showed that serovars Al, A2 and C were the most commonly isolated in Spain.