TUBERCULOSIS CONDEMNATIONS IN LIVESTOCK SLAUGHTERED FOR MEAT IN NORTHEASTERN NIGERIA

Post-mortem inspection records on cattle, sheep, goats and camels slaughtered for meat at the Maiduguri abbatoir from 1981 to 1990 were used for this study. Records were analysed to examine the prevalence of tuberculosis (TB) condemnations of whole carcasses and of organs. Among the species investigated, cattle seemed to be the most affected. Prevalences in sheep and goats were very low. No cases of TB were encountered in camels throughout the study period. Of the organs examined, lungs were the most affected (accounting for about 50%, 66% and 75% of organs condemned in cattle, sheep and goats, respectively). Greater percentages of condemnations occurred during the hot-dry and rainy seasons in cattle, and during the rainy to cold-dry seasons in sheep and goats.