Abstract

The study was conducted from November, 2013 to March, 2014 at Hawassa municipal abattoir, Southern Ethiopia with the aim of identifying the major causes of liver and lung condemnation and assessing possible risk factors associated with organ condemnation. Standard ante-mortem and post-mortem procedures were followed throughout the study and abnormalities were recorded. A total of 399 cattle were considered for ante mortem and post-mortem examination by systematic random sampling technique. In ante mortem inspection the most commonly encountered abnormalities were 3 (0.75%) lameness, 4 (1%) nasal discharge, 2 (0.5%) skin lesions and 4 (1%) rough hair coat. During post mortem inspection, 224 (56.1%) of lungs were condemned due to hydatidosis, calcification, emphysema and marbling and 207 (51.8%) of livers were condemned due to fasciolosis, hydatidosis, calcification, hardening and haemorrhage. The condemnation rate of lung with respect to each risk factor was found to be 35.3, 0.78, 9.7 and 10% for hydatidosis, calcification, emphysema and marbling, respectively. The condemnation rate of liver with respect to each risk factor was also found to be 20.5, 17.2, 4.2, 10.2 and 0.5% for fasciolosis, hydatidosis, hardening, calcification and hemorrhage, respectively. The study indicated that hydatidosis (35.5%) for lung and fasciolosis (20.7%) for liver were the major cause of condemnation, respectively. Many risk factors such as age, body condition, origin and breed of animal determined liver and lung condemnation rate. But among these only body condition showed statistically significant difference (x²= 11.524, P=0.003) with condemnation rate of each organ. The results of this study showed that condemnation of liver and lungs at the abattoir is very high, thereby preventive measure need to be designed to overcome further loss by applying appropriate treatment control and preventive measures of slaughter animals.

Key words: Abattoir, cattle, condemnation, Hawassa, liver, lungs, municipal.