Cause of partial or total seizures of small ruminant meat at the Parakou slaughterhouse in northern Bénin

Abstract

Slaughterhouses provide information on the epidemiology of livestock diseases. This study aims to assess the frequencies of seizure patterns of small ruminant meat at the Parakou slaughterhouse in northern Benin from May to August 2020. Out of a total of 6868 small ruminants (sheep and goats) slaughtered, 428 (6.23%) seizures were made, mostly in goats (69%) (p<0.001). The organs frequently seized in both species were the lungs (52.72% and 33.58% respectively in goats and sheep) and intestines (30.95% and 24.63% respectively in goats and sheep) (p<0.001). The other organs seized were kidneys, liver and spleen. The lungs were seized more frequently in goats than in sheep (p<0.001). The inverse trend was observed for kidney and liver seizures (p<0.001). The main reasons for seizures were lesions pulmonary hepatitis, sclerosis, nephritis, splenitis and pimply gut in the intestines. The various reasons for seizures at the slaughterhouse point to the need to strengthen preventive measures to fight against the diseases that cause the lesions resulting in these seizures.

Keywords: Seizure, carcass, goat, sheep, slaughterhouse