Pathological Characteristics of Tuberculosis in Slaughtered Sheep and Goats in Algedarif State

Abstract

This study was carried out at Gadarif state in Eastern Sudan to detect the pathological characteristics of Tuberculosis (TB) lesions in carcasses of small ruminants (sheep and goats). A total of 4560 sheep and goats were examined between June 2017 and December 2018. The animals were brought from different localities of Gadarif State. The general body condition score (BCS) of the animals were observed and looked apparently active and healthy. Postmortem inspection was performed based on the principle of meat inspection; visualization, palpation and incision. Particular emphasis was given during examination to certain organs and lymph nodes that were carefully inspected for the presence of suspected TB lesions. All lobes of the two lungs and the lymph nodes were inspected externally and palpated for the presence of visible lesions. Moreover, organs such as liver, spleen, kidneys rumen and small intestine were examined. Any suspected tuberculous lesions with yellowish appearance, caseous, purulent, caseo-calcareous or calcified in consistency were collected. The results revealed that overall prevalence of granulomatous lesions in all inspected carcasses was 0.22%. The detected granulomatous lesions were typical caseous necrosis, with a whitish or yellowish color. They were of various sizes and enclosed in light grey fibrous tissue. The inspection in sheep and goats showed that 80% of the lesions were localized mainly in the abdominal cavity, thoracic cavity 20%, however, the predominant organs have tubercles in liver and lungs (55.5%, 16.7%) respectively, followed by mesenteric lymph node , mediastinal lymph node, intestine, kidney