Macroscopic and histopathological examinations of liver lesions in slaughtered cattle in Zabol City, Iran

Background:Liver lesions in cattle not only have negative effects on the cattle breedingindustry, but also lead to loss of animal protein production, and in particularto endanger the consumers’ health. OBJECTIVES:This study was carried out to examine the macroscopic and histopathologiclesions of liver in slaughtered cattle of Zabol City. METHODS:Livers of 281 cattle slaughtered at the industrial slaughterhouse of Zabol Citywere collected from March to September 2015 for gross and microscopicinvestigation. Tissue processing was conducted from specimens inspected totissue lesions with routine protocol and histopathological changes of liverswere examined under light microscopy. RESULTS:Macroscopic investigation of 281 cases showed 90 livers (32.02%) with gross lesions.In histopathological examination, there were 83 cases (29.53%) withhydatidosis, 3 cases (1.07%) with fasciolosis, 2 cases (0.71%) withperihepatitis and 2 cases (0.71%) with lipidosis.                                                                              CONCLUSIONS:Based on the results of this study, the most frequent liver lesion in cattleslaughtered in Zabol City was hydatidosis indicating the active life cycle of Echinococcusguanulosus and the outbreak of this parasitic disease in dogs and othercarnivores in Sistan region