All elk hoof disease topics

Billings Gazette

In 2017 the Washington State Legislature unanimously passed Senate Bill 5474 to designate WSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine as the state lead in developing a program to monitor and assess causes of, and potential solutions for, elk hoof disease. Read the 2022 report to the Legislature providing the most recent developments with the disease.

Mineral supplementation is not a clear answer to elk hoof disease.

While we don’t have ways to treat or cure elk with hoof disease in the wild, there are ways to help researchers and managers.

Dr. Margaret Wild joined the Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology in the College of Veterinary Medicine in 2018 to lead Washington’s elk hoof disease research efforts.

The Spokesman-Review

A disease in elk that causes deformed hooves and eventually leads to lameness and death is also associated with abnormal, asymmetrical antlers, a WSU‑led study of hunter reports found.

Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine has been leading the effort to identify the cause of elk hoof disease and to provide critical information to wildlife agencies to better manage the disease in the wild since the Washington state Legislature passed SB 5474 in 2017.   The legislation provided funding to address elk hoof […]

In 2017 the Washington State Legislature unanimously passed Senate Bill 5474 to designate WSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine as the state lead in developing a program to monitor and assess causes of, and potential solutions for, elk hoof disease. Read the 2021 report to the Legislature providing the most recent developments with the disease.

What is elk hoof disease? Elk hoof disease is a debilitating disease that causes sores on the feet of elk, in addition to deformed, overgrown, broken, or sloughed hooves. Affected elk are often observed limping or holding up a foot. Sporadic cases of the disease may have occurred in southwestern Washington earlier but the number of […]