Pathological investigation of liver lesions in slaughtered cattle in Al-Najaf abattoir

This study has been conducted to examine the macroscopic and histopathologic lesions of liver in slaughtered cattle at Al-Najaf City, and then the prevalence of these lesions has been listed. Liver of two hundred cattle slaughtered at the city slaughterhouse of Al-Najaf were collected from beginning of January to the end of March, 2019 for gross and microscopic investigations. Tissue processing has been carried out for specimens inspected as tissue lesions were examined under light microscopy. The results of the macroscopic and microscopic survey showed that there were variable liver affections in slaughtered cattle. The lesions were arranged from high percentages of lesions such as fasciolosis (32%) and abscesses (32.5%), to moderate to low percentages such as hydatidosis (19.5%), tuberculosis (7.5%), fatty degeneration (3%) and coagulative necrosis (1.5%). The main conclusion of our study revealed that there were high prevalence of liver lesions in slaughtered cattle in Al-Najaf slaughterhouse (4.69%), that lead to liver condemnation and economic losses.