Assessment of Bovine Tuberculosis like Lesions and Its Risk Factors in Cattle Slaughtered at Hawassa University and Municipal Abattoirs, Southern Ethiopia

Background: a cross sectional study was conducted on 753 Cattle, selected using systematic random sampling technique, in Hawassa abattoirs, Southern Ethiopia from December 2015 to May 2016 to investigate the occurrence of Bovine Tuberculosis in animals slaughtered at Hawassa University and Municipal Abattoirs, and to identifying the potential risk factors, Southern Ethiopia. The methods used were ante mortem, to identifying the risk factors, and postmortem examinations, to determining the bovine tuberculosis like lesions. Result: the overall prevalence of the bovine tuberculosis was 5.8% (95% CI: 4.16-7.52) on the basis of detailed postmortem examination. Multivariable logistic regression analysis identified age, body condition; breed and market were statistically significant. The older cattle above 8 years were eighteen times (OR = 18.25) more likely to have tuberculosis than the younger cattle. The cross breeds were nine times (OR = 9.75) more sensitive to M. bovis as compared to local breeds as well as the poor body conditioned cattle forty-one times (OR = 41.21) more likely to have tuberculosis than the cattle have good body condition. Relatively, the occurrence of BTB was higher in cattle brought from Hawassa (OR = 13.17) and Borena (OR = 9.41) markets than Tula market. The lesions were found most frequently distributed in thoracic cavity lymph nodes (75%), which indicated that respiratory route was the main mode of infection in the study area. Conclusion: Using the gross pathological lesion this study shows that low overall prevalence of bovine tuberculosis in sampled animals.