Occurrences of indigestible foreign bodies in cattle slaughtered at Morogoro Municipal Slaughterhouse, Tanzania

Journal of Veterinary Medicine Volume 2018, Article ID 4818203, 6 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/4818203A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the occurrence of indigestible foreign bodies (IFB) in cattle slaughtered at Morogoro Municipal Slaughterhouse, Tanzania. A total of 387 slaughter cattle were examined for presence of IFB. Out of 387 examined cattle, 93 (24.03%) had IFB in their fore stomachs. The observed IFB were plastic bags, fruit seeds, clothing materials, ropes, hairballs, leather materials, stones, metallic nails, and wire. Plastic bags were the most frequently (50.5%) observed IFB followed by fruit seeds (18.3%). A significantly ( < 0.05) high proportion of old animals (31.7%) had IFB compared to the young animals (21.2%). Similarly, the frequency of occurrence of IFB was significantly high ( < 0.05) in crossbred dairy cattle (42.3%) compared to local breeds (22.7%). Cattle that appeared with poor body condition (37.8%) were found to bemore affected ( < 0.05) by IFB than those with good body condition (15.9%). In 91.4% of animals which had IFB, all the materials were located in the rumen. This study showed that presence of IFB is a common problem in cattle slaughtered at Morogoro Municipal Slaughterhouse and may significantly cause poor production and mortality in affected animals. Therefore, appropriate solid waste disposal should be implemented.Tanzania Higher Education Students Loan Boar