Comprehensive report of an Enterococcus cecoruminfection in a broiler flock in Northern Germany

BMC Veterinary Research

Table 3 Broiler footpad scores from different cycles of the farm with the EC outbreak, determined at the slaughterhouse ^A

Broiler cycle	Score ^Bcompartment 1	Score ^Bcompartment 2	Mean score ^Bcompartments 1 + 2
−7	28	16	22.1
−6	35	29	32.0
−5	16	11	13.5
−4	38	8	22.9
−3	50	81	65.5
−2	61	39	50.1
−1	31	35	33.0
0^C	13	6	9.5
+1	34	16	25.8
+2	30	31	30.5
+3	24	22	23.0
+4	25	24	24.5
Mean footpad score all cycles without cycle 0			31.2

^AAssessed with an automated camera system.
^BThe assessment is based on color and size of the lesions. The area of the foodpad was determined and divided into pixels. The proportion of dark skin (representing foot pad lesions) within the area designated as the footpad was measured and used for categorizing the severity of footpad dermatitis. Foot pads were scored according to the number of dark pixels from score 1 to score 4, with 0–5 dark pixels as score 1, 6–19 dark pixels score 2, 20–44 dark pixels score 3 and 45–100 dark pixels score 4. Both feet of all slaughtered broilers were measured and a mean value was calculated for each animal. The total score of one flock was calculated: Flock footpad score = (0 x the total number of feet with score 1) + (0.5 x the total number of feet with score 2) + (2.0 x the total number of feet with score 3) + (2.0 x the total number of feet with score 4).
^CBroiler cycle with the EC outbreak. Cycles before and after the EC infection are labeled with “-“ or “+” respectively.

ISSN: 1746-6148