The prevalence of eye and skin conditions among cattle presented for slaughter at Arua City Abattoir

Abstract

The existence of various eye and skin diseases affecting cattle is frequently reported from different parts of the world. However information on eye and skin diseases affecting live stock in Uganda is scanty. A cross sectional study was conducted at Arua City Abattoir to determine the prevalence of eye and skin diseases in cattle and establish correlation between animal demographic factors and occurrence of the conditions. Animals were examined for the presence of eye and skin disease/condition through visual inspection and palpation. A total of 384 herds of cattle were selected and examined in this study. Out of the 384 cattle examined, 122 (31.8%) and 234 (60.9%) had eye and skin conditions respectively. All the breeds sampled had some individual cattle presenting with eye and or skin condition, though at different proportions. Most 254/384 (66.1%) of the animals examined were of the Ankole cattle breed, followed by zebu and Friesian breeds, accounting for 124/384 (32.3%) and 6/384 (1.6%) respectively. Majority (302/384, 78.6%) of the cattle slaughtered aged 2-5 years, followed by those >6 years of age, 100/384 (28.90%) and those <1.5 years old were the least, 13/384 (3.4%). There were no statistically significant variations in prevalence of eye and skin diseases (p=0.223) and (=p=0.271) respectively among the animals of different age groups and origins. However young animals had more cases (38.5% %) of eye and (76.9%) skin diseases than old cattle (29.9% and 49.3% respectively). There was no statistically significant difference in the prevalence of skin diseases between cattle of different sex, breed, body condition score and origin. However the occurrence of skin diseases was found to be higher in cattle with thin body condition (70.5%), local breed (61.4%), males (61.5%) and the highest prevalence was recorded among cattle from Lira district (95.2%) and lowest among those from Aleptong district. The eye lesions observed in this study included; pink eye (6.5%), corneal opacity (17.5%), wound in the eye lids (30.5%), raptured eye (2.3%) and cataracts (13.5%). The skin lesions included; scratches (39.8%), cockles/wrinkles (9.6%), fresh wound or scar (30.5%), skin lump (15.7%) and tick bites (27.1%). In conclusion, the prevalence of eye and or skin conditions in cattle was high in the study area. Further study on economic impact of the skin and eye disease in cattle is highly recommended.