Evaluation of Routine Meat Inspection Procedure to Detect Bovine Tuberculosis Suggestive Lesions in Jimma Municipal Abattoir, South West Ethiopia

Abstract

A survey was conducted in Jimma municipal abattoir from October 2010-January 2011 to evaluate the effectiveness of the routine meat inspection procedure as compared to the detailed inspection method in detecting BTB (bovine tuberculosis) suggestive lesions and concomitantly to determine the prevalence of BTB on the basis of post mortem inspection and Zihel-Neelsen microscopy. Carcasses of seven hundred eighty randomly selected cattle were inspected through both methods. Analysis of the data revealed that 21 (2.7and 95%; CI, 1.5-3.8%) had BTB suggestive lesions using detailed inspection; while it was detected only in 2 carcasses (0.3and 95%; CI,-0.1-0.6%) by the routine method. Thus, the routine inspection method missed most of the carcasses with BTB suggestive lesions (90.5%) and the agreement between the detailed and routine meat inspection methods was slight (Kappa=0.17). The mean time spent to inspect a carcass (1.2min±0.4) by the routine method was virtually five times shorter than the detailed method (5.8min± 1.9). There was a statistically significant difference (P < 0.05) in the mean time spent to inspect each carcass between the two methods. ZihelNeelsen stained smears that were directly made from twenty one suspected tuberculosis lesions showed eight acid fast bacteria positive. There was a moderate agreement between the detailed meat inspection and ZihelNeelsen staining methods (Kappa=0.54). In conclusion, the routine meat inspection has limitations in detecting BTB suggestive lesions. Consequently, people who used to consume raw meat might be at risk of acquiring BTB infection. Hence, due attention should be given to redress the concern.