Evaluation of abattoir inspection for the diagnosis of Mycobacterium bovis infection in cattle at Addis Ababa abattoir

Detailed postmortem examinations were conducted to evaluate the efficiency of meat inspection procedures and to determine the distribution of lesions in Mycobacterium bovis-infected cattle. The study involved routine inspection at slaughter, collection of tissues for detailed examination in the laboratory, and bacteriological examination to identify M. bovis. Additionally, a 10-year (1992-2001) meat inspection record was analysed to determine tuberculosis trends in the past decade. chi(2)-Test and simple regression were used to analyse the data. Out of 1350 cattle examined, 1.5% were found with tuberculous lesions. Routine abattoir inspection detected only 55% of cattle with confirmed lesions. Fifty-four per cent of tuberculous lesions were found in the lungs and thoracic lymph nodes, 23% in the lymph nodes of the head, and the remaining 23% in the mesenteric and other lymph nodes of the carcase. M. bovis was additionally isolated from an animal that had no gross lesions of tuberculosis. On average, the annual rate of whole-carcase condemnation due to generalized tuberculosis was 0.024% and it has increased annually by 0.34% over the past decade. The rate of whole-carcase condemnation indicates a high degree of TB transmission and requires immediate attention from both the economic and public health points of view. The lower sensitivity of routine abattoir inspection confirms the importance of improving necropsy procedures.