Prevalence of indigestible foreign bodies in the rumen and reticulum of cattle slaughtered at Kalerwe Abattoir, Kampala, Uganda

Abstract

Hardware disease is one of those diseases that affect cattle, and this relates to poor waste management, which exposes especially grazing cattle to ingesting indigestible foreign materials (IFMs), causing health and economic losses. A cross-sectional study was conducted at Kalerwe Abattoir, Kampala, Uganda, from 11th February 2025 to 9th March 2025 to establish the prevalence and risk factors of indigestible foreign materials (IFMs) ingestion in slaughtered cattle. Cattle were examined at ante mortem, taking note of their breed, age, sex, and body condition score. A total of 301 cattle were sampled, of which 135 (45%) were males and 166 (55%) were females. The examined breeds were Nganda (n=159, 27.7%), Ankole (n=97, 21.6 %), and Zebu (n=37, 14.4%), which came from seven districts. At post mortem, each compartment of the forestomach was opened carefully and visually inspected thoroughly for the presence of any indigestible foreign materials. Data collected was entered in Microsoft Excel (2019) and exported to SPSS software Version 20.0, where statistical analysis was performed. The Pearson chi-square (χ2) test was employed to assess the existence of an association between the prevalence of foreign bodies in rumen and reticulum and the different animal factors. A total of 67 animals had IFMs hence an overall prevalence of 22.3%, with polythene bags (n=27, 40.2%), and ropes (n=26, 38.8%), constituting the majority of foreign materials followed by hairballs (n=7, 19.4%), sacks (n=4, 5.9%), wires (n=1, 1.4%), nails (n=1, 1.4%) mango seed (n=1, 1.4%), and piece of iron sheet (n=1, 1.4%). The females had a higher prevalence of rumen and reticulum foreign bodies (n=46, 27.7%) than male cattle (n=21, 15.5%) (χ2=6.357, p=0.012). According to age, the highest prevalence was among cattle of 5-8 years (n=22, 61.1%), followed by 3-5 years (n=23, 21.9%) and 1-3 years (n=22, 13.8%), (χ2= 38.105, p<0.05). The animals with the highest prevalence according to body condition score were the emaciated (n=5, 40%), followed by poor body condition score (n=102, 32.3%), and finally those with good body condition (n=194, 16.4%). This study revealed a high prevalence of IFMs of different types among cattle. Accordingly, designing and implementing appropriate solid waste disposal and management practices is strongly recommended to reduce the risk of ingestion of indigestible foreign bodies by cattle.