Major causes of organ condemnation and economic loss in cattle slaughtered at Adigrat municipal abattoir, northern Ethiopia

Aim: The study was conducted to identify major causes of organs condemnation in cattle slaughtered at Adigrat municipal abattoir and to estimate the direct economic losses. Material and Methods: A cross sectional active abattoir survey, which involves both ante mortem and post mortem examinations, was conducted on 745 cattle from October 2012 to April 2013, and two years (September 2010 September 2012) retrospective data on meat inspection records was also collected. Results: During ante mortem examination, in 114 (15.3%) cattle various types of abnormalities were detected include; lacrimation (3.49%), pale mucus membrane (3.09%), nasal discharge (1.88%), hernia (1.48%), actinomycosis (1.34%), salivation (1.74%), lameness (0.54%), emaciation (0.41%), depression (0.41%), blindness (0.41%), local swelling (0.27%) and rough hair coat (0.27%). Postmortem examination revealed that 131 (17.58%) liver, 61 (8.19%) lungs, 9 (1.21%) kidneys and 2 (0.27%) hearts were condemned due to various causes. Fasciolosis (9.26%) was the main cause of liver condemnation followed by hydatid cyst (3.62%) and cysticercus bovis (2.55%), respectively. The major causes of lung condemnation were hydatid cyst, emphysema and pneumonia accounting for 5.1, 1.61 and 1.07%, respectively. Hydronephrosis and cysticercus bovis were the major causes of kidney and liver condemnation with rate of 0.94 and 0.27%, respectively. Totally about 19,910.0 Ethiopian birr (1,083.83 USD) was lost from organs condemnation during the active abattoir survey. From the retrospective data it was observed that liver and lung were the most condemned organs with condemnation rate of 17.72 and 7.53%, respectively. The major causes of organ condemnation were hydatid cyst (11.52%), cirrhosis (4.97%), fasciolosis (4.35%), cysticercus bovis (4.12%) and hydronephrosis (1.21%), respectively. Consequently, the overall direct economical loss during the two years was estimated to be 83,890.0 Ethiopian birr (4,566.68 USD). Conclusion: The results identified various causes of organ condemnation and their economic importance in the area. Therefore, it is necessary to establish appropriate strategy for prevention and control.