Analysis of Abattoir records for Imo state, Nigeria from 1995 - 1999 IV: Incidence of Mastitis Amongs cattle, sheep and goats

Abstract

A five-year data (1995–1999) on mastitis among slaughtered cattle, sheep and goats collected from the Federal Livestock Department (FLD), Imo State zonal office, was analysed to determine the prevalence of the condition among such animals in Imo State. Of the 8615 female animals handled at veterinary approved slaughter points during the period, 6230 (72.8%), 497(5.8%) and 1848(21.4%) were cows, ewes and does respectively. Mastitis was recorded among 405 (6.6%) of the cows, 77(15.5%) of the ewes and 352(19.1%) of the does. Across four seasons, mastitis was significantly higher (16.5% and 34.4%) among cattle and goats respectively during late dry (LD) season (p<0.05) while among the sheep, significantly (p<0.05) higher figure (22.0%) was observed during the early rainy (ER) season. Overall monthly prevalence showed lower levels of infection among cattle and goats from April to June and September to December while for sheep, lower infection rates coincided with February to May and November to December periods of the year. Slaughter sheep and goats may reflect higher incidence of mastitis than their counterparts in the field.