A study on gross and histopathological pulmonary lesions of cattle slaughtered at Abergelle Abattoir, Mekelle, Tigray, Ethiopia

Animals in sub-Saharan African countries are used as source of milk, meat, hides and skin where animal diseases are one of the primary constraints in increasing the productivity of food animals. Studies were conducted to examine various respiratory problems of cattle with purpose of identifying the gross and histopathological lesions in lungs of slaughtered cattle at Abergelle Export Abattoir from April 2015 to June 2015 Mekelle, Tigray, Ethiopia. A total of 240 lungs of cattle originating from different parts of Tigray regions were examined and as many as 208 lung samples with gross pulmonary lesions were collected for further confirmatory histopathological study. The prevalence of pulmonary lesions of cattle in this study was 86.6% (n=208). The case of pneumonia was found to be highest followed by lung emphysema and congestion besides cases of oedema, hydatidosis, abscess and atelectasis. These results indicated that respiratory problem is still a major health problem in cattle production. Key words: Lung, pneumonia, pulmonary lesion, Ethiopia.