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 breeding industry, but also lead to loss of animal protein production, and in particular to endanger the consumers’ health. OBJECTIVES: This study was carried out to examine the macroscopic and histopathologic lesions of liver in slaughtered cattle of Zabol City. METHODS: Livers of 281 cattle slaughtered at the industrial slaughterhouse of Zabol City were collected from March to September 2015 for gross and microscopic investigation. Tissue processing was conducted from specimens inspected to tissue lesions with routine protocol and histopathological changes of livers were 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%) with hydatidosis, 3 cases (1.07%) with fasciolosis, 2 cases (0.71%) with perihepatitis and 2 cases (0.71%) with lipidosis. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results of this study, the most frequent liver lesion in cattle slaughtered in Zabol City was hydatidosis indicating the active life cycle of Echinococcus guanulosus and the outbreak of this parasitic disease in dogs and other carnivores in Sistan region.