liver abscess prevalence and some related factors in slaughtered cattle in shiraz abattoir

to study the prevalence of liver abscess in cattle slaughtered in shiraz, livers from 435 (242 male and 193 female) randomly selected cattle were examined. in the examined livers, number, location and size of the abscesses were recorded. gross lesions were found in 34 (8.28%) out of the examined livers; of which 28 liver (6.44%) had liver abscess (20 liver had abscesses and 8 liver had scarring), and telangiectasis was found in 6 liver (1.38%). no significant difference was found between both sexes in presence of the abscesses. the mean number of the abscesses in the affected livers was 1.93± 0.253 (mean±sem), which had no significant difference between the two sexes (p>0.05). the number of the abscesses in the affected livers had a marginally significant correlation with age (r= -0.344, p=0.06). the animals were divided into three age groups according to their age as: ≤2 years, between 2 and 5 years, and > 5 years. the prevalence of the liver abscess in the last group was significantly higher than others (p<0.01). most of the abscesses were found in left lobes (47.6%) and in diaphragmatic surfaces (23.8%) of the affected livers. there was no significant difference between the two sexes and between the different age groups in the location of the abscesses.