~ 1217 ~ Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies 2019; 7(6): 1217-1219 E-ISSN: 2320-7078 P-ISSN: 2349-6800 JEZS 2019; 7(6): 1217-1219 © 2019 JEZS Received: 10-06-2019 Accepted: 14-07-2019 Amit Baranwal Ph.D., Scholar, Division of AGB, ICAR-IVRI, Izatnagar, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India Gaur GK Principal Scientist and Incharge, LPM Section, ICAR-IVRI, Izatnagar, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India Pruthviraj DR Ph.D., Scholar, Division of AGB, ICAR-IVRI, Izatnagar, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India Corresponding Author: Amit Baranwal Ph.D., Scholar, Division of AGB, ICAR-IVRI, Izatnagar, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India Prevalence of lameness in crossbred and Tharparkar cattle: A comparison Amit Baranwal, Gaur GK and Pruthviraj DR Abstract Prevalence study is a significant epidemiological tool to assess burden of disease in a population. Lameness in cattle is economically significant disease associated with production, reproduction and animal welfare. In the present study, year wise prevalence varied from 4.10 to 31.84% in crossbred cattle, while 3.49 to 23.26% in Tharparkar cattle. Average prevalence of lameness in crossbred and Tharparkar was 13.67 and 11.05%, respectively. Occurrence of lameness in crossbred cattle was maximum in rainy season followed by winter and summer seasons. Keywords: Prevalence, lameness, crossbred, Tharparkar Introduction The prevalence and incidence of a disease are among the most fundamental measures in epidemiology. Prevalence is a measure to assess the burden of a disease in a population of a geographical area at a particular time. This epidemiological tool assesses the need for health services and examines trends in disease or severity over time. It can be estimated as number of cases of the condition/ disease at a particular point in time. The study of prevalence of disease is important due to several reasons. Prevalence estimates of a disease provides context for diagnostic, preventive and curative decision-making [1] . Prevalence studies generate an idea about burden of disease, therefore identifies priorities in healthcare and policy making. Assessment of interventions based on baseline risk for a disease in a population and development of health economics models are other outcomes of prevalence studies [2] . Lameness in bovines is a multi-factorial systemic disease, which occurs in several distinct clinical forms and is characterized with local exposition in the claws [3] . Most common clinical manifestations during lameness are tissue damage, pain, discomfort and inability to walk [4] . Lameness can be defined as a clinical sign or symptom of a disorder that causes a disturbance in locomotion or change in gait resulting from pain or discomfort of hoof and leg injuries [5] . Lame cows can experience long-duration pain and discomfort [6] . Recently, lameness and its welfare implications have become one of the most widely acknowledged problem in organized intensive cattle farming system [7, 8] . It is an economically significant production disease [9, 10, 11] and losses include reduced quality and quantity of milk, weight loss and death [12] . Along with infertility and mastitis, lameness is ranked among the top three most common disorders of dairy cows [10, 13] . Decreased productive and reproductive performance [14] , premature culling [10] with rising treatment cost are the most common impact of the disease. Culling level is higher for lame cows with claw lesions and reduced milk yield [15] . Approximately, 16% of dairy cattle are culled and slaughtered in the United States due to lameness [16] . Consequently, decreased carcass value is reported in culled cows [17] . Losses due to lameness are 260 US dollars/ year/ cow in the US [18] . Lameness and hoof disorders are also noted in Indian cows [19, 20] . Materials and Methods Experimental Layout In present study, prevalence of lameness was explored and compared in crossbred and Tharparkar cattle. For this, all lameness cases, noted between 2008 and 2018 were recorded year-wise from the sickness register of Cattle and Buffalo Farm, IVRI, Izatnagar. The crossbred cattle included in this study was Vrindavani cattle (Exotic: Holstein Friesian, Brown Swiss and Jersey (50-75%) and indigenous: Haryana (25-50%).