Bacteriological and pathological study of liver abscesses in goat carcasses in slaughterhouses
Afshin Zahedi, Mohammadreza Poorghasemi, Masoud Shirali, Forogh Mohammadi, Maryam Karimi-Dehkordi
Abstract: The present research was conducted to determine the incidence of liver abscesses, bacterial causes, and histopathological structure in goats slaughtered in the slaughterhouse. A total of 1187 goats, including 673 male goats and 514 female goats were subjected to routine post-slaughter inspections. If an abscess was observed in the liver examination, the anatomical position of the abscess was recorded by noting the lobe and the surface. Each abscess was separated along with a part of the surrounding healthy tissue, and was sent immediately to the bacteriology and pathology laboratories for processing. There was no significant relationship between the occurrence of abscesses and the sex of goats, or between abscesses and different liver surfaces. From aerobic and anaerobic cultures of abscesses, Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis was isolated from two cases, Arcanobacterium pyogenes from two cases, Fusobacterium necrophorum and Escherichia coli together from two cases, and Pseudomonas spp and Streptococcus spp from one case each. The results of this study showed that Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, the cause of caseous lymphadenitis, is an important bacterial agent in causing liver abscesses in goats slaughtered in slaughterhouses, although other less specific bacterial pathogens also cause abscesses.
Keywords: Goat; liver abscesses; pseudotuberculosis; streptococcosis
Citation: Zahedi, A., Poorghasemi, M., Shirali, M., Mohammadi, F. & Karimi-Dehkordi, M. (2026). Bacteriological and pathological study of liver abscesses in goat carcasses in slaughterhouses. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 32(1), 193–200
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| Date published: 2026-02-25
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