Prevalence of Liver Condemnation Due to Fascioliasis in Slaughtered Cattle and It’s Financial Losses at Kano Old Abattoir, Nigeria

A total of 6, 933 cattle slaughtered at Kano old abattoir during the wet season month of July, 2014 were examined during post mortem meat inspection in order to determine the prevalence of liver condemnation in weight (kg) due to fascioliasis and its financial losses in naira (N) equivalent. Data were obtained by macroscopic examination, palpation and incision of each liver for size, consistency, dilatation of the bile ducts, sinus tract due to immature fluke migration, fibrous tissue formation, immature and matured flukes in the liver and bile duct, respectively. Liver with less or severe damage were partially or totally condemned. The condemned liver from each slaughtered cattle were collected in polythene bags and weighed individually using Camry premium® scale while the financial value was estimated in naira using the current market price of N1,200 per kilogram of liver sold in the Kano meat market. A prevalence of 1.2% from 80 (31 and 49 partially and totally condemned livers respectively) condemned livers out of 6, 933 cattle examined was obtained. The total weight of both partially and totally condemned liver tissues was 295.8 kg which translated into financial losses of N354, 960 only. The result from this study showed that, fascioliasis is one of the causes of financial losses in the livestock production sector in the study area.