Abstract
Accurate clinical diagnosis of pneumonia, the leading cause of mortality in small ruminants, is difficult and usually requires postmortem examination of the lungs. An active abattoir survey was conducted between November 2017 and April 2018 to estimate the prevalence and characterize the gross and histopathological lesions of pneumonic lungs in 864 clinically healthy young small ruminants (490 sheep and 374 goats aged 1.5 to 3 years) raised for meat in different parts of the country and slaughtered at Elfora Bishoftu export abattoir, Ethiopia. Out of the total lungs examined grossly, pneumonic lesions were found in 158 (18.29%) lungs. On histopathological examination of the lungs with gross pneumonic lesion, however, typical pneumonic lesions were diagnosed in 148 (17.13%) lungs only. No significant (p>0.05) difference was noted in the prevalence of pneumonia between sheep (17.14%) and goats (17.11%) in histopathological examination. Based on the predominant histopathological findings, the pneumonic lesions were characterized as interstitial pneumonia (41.9%), acute suppurative bronchopneumonia (25.7%), acute fibrinous bronchopneumonia (24.3%), chronic bronchopneumonia (6.1%), aspiration pneumonia (4.7%), bronchointerstitial pneumonia (3.4%), and ovine pulmonary adenomatosis (3.4%). The study further showed the spread of ovine pulmonary adenomatosis and ovine progressive pneumonia (Maedi) from the central highlands to areas that were previously free from these diseases. Due to its better diagnostic capacity, histopathology should be employed routinely as an ancillary test in the major abattoirs and regional veterinary laboratories to generate additional epidemiological data for a better disease control and prevention measures. Further studies are also recommended to identify the etiological agents of pneumonia in sheep and goats and thereby to formulate feasible and cost-effective interventions.
Highlights
Ethiopia has 30.7 million sheep and 30.2 million goats [1]
The study was conducted between November 2017 and April 2018 in Elfora Bishoftu export abattoir, which is located at about 45 kilometers South East of Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia
On the basis of predominant histopathological findings, the pneumonic lesions were further classified into interstitial pneumonia, acute suppurative bronchopneumonia, acute fibrinous bronchopneumonia, chronic bronchopneumonia, aspiration pneumonia, bronchointerstitial pneumonia, and ovine pulmonary adenomatosis
Summary
Ethiopia has 30.7 million sheep and 30.2 million goats [1]. Despite this huge population, the country is still unable to meet the growing domestic and export need for mutton and chevon because of several reasons. Poor management and husbandry practices and diseases of varied etiologies are among the leading bottlenecks of sheep and goat production [2]. Among the wide range of diseases that affect sheep and goats, respiratory diseases are most frequent as air and blood are their main routes of transmission [3]. A respiratory disease arising from an inflammatory response of the lung parenchyma, is still the major disease limiting the development of animal production in the tropics [7]. In Ethiopia, it is the leading health problem of small ruminants and causes huge financial losses through morbidity and mortality [2, 8, 9]
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