Abattoir lesions in cattle are associated with an increased age at slaughter

Dr Natascha Meunier, Programme Manager Beef HealthCheck, Animal Health Ireland spoke about how abattoir lesions in cattle are associated with an increased age at slaughter at the National Beef Conference 2022.

Disease in farm animals has a significant economic impact on livestock production, with the farmer typically bearing most of the direct costs relating to endemic diseases. In order for farmers to make informed investment decisions regarding interventions to prevent or control disease, it is essential that they understand firstly the level of disease and cost of disease on their farm and secondly, the trade-off between intervention costs and disease losses that can be avoided. The type of production system also needs to be taken into account when evaluating costs as it will drive not only disease processes but also husbandry practices. Subclinical losses (when an animal is not visibly ill) can have a dramatic effect on production by affecting feed conversion efficiency, mortality, fertility, reproductive performance, and milk yield of ruminants. However, due to its nature farmers might not realise these losses are even occurring. Their quantification is essential to provide farmers with a holistic view of what is happening in their farm.

Summary

• Poor health is widely recognised to negatively affect performance in
• Liver fluke, liver abscesses and pneumonia lung lesions were related to increased slaughter age.
• The impact of health status on slaughter age varied with animal type and farm type, but on average heifers and steers were 40-46, 8 and 12- 14 days older at slaughter if liver fluke, liver abscesses and pneumonia lung lesions were present, respectively.
• The prevalence of liver fluke at slaughter has been decreasing since 2016 but it is still widespread, with 44% of herds that slaughtered cattle exhibiting liver fluke in 2022.
• Gains in animal production and subsequent reductions in greenhouse gas emissions can be achieved if animal health is improved.

Questions & Answers

Is it free on ICBF to view lesions in your herd?

Yes, but you will need to register and create a login. This can be done by contacting ICBF directly. You do not need to be a HerdPlus member.

For cattle killed that come back with a liver score of 4, how can you find out specifically what caused the damage?

A liver score of 4 could be a tumour or cirrhosis or some other rare condition. Unfortunately the inspectors are not able to record unusual liver abnormalities in much detail as part of the programme. Ask the factory veterinarian for more information about these animals, particularly if it happens frequently.

If you get a diagnosis from a faecal sample of positive for rumen fluke but negative for liver fluke, should I treat for rumen fluke with Levafas diamond?

Depending on when the sample was taken, liver fluke might still be a problem on the farm and might need treatment, even if eggs weren’t seen. If there is no history on the farm of liver fluke, and no previous problem or history of clinical signs of rumen fluke, then treatment with a flukicide may not be needed. Adult rumen fluke are usually well tolerated by cattle and do not necessarily need to be treated for. There is no medicine with a label claim for use against rumen fluke so discuss the treatment with your vet who knows the specific situation on your farm.  

For a herd that has rumen fluke present on the farm, how long after housing should they be treated for rumen fluke?

Rumen fluke are usually well tolerated by cattle and do not necessarily need treatment unless clinical signs such as poor thrive and scour are present. This can be a problem in younger animals. Oxyclozanide is the only flukicide with a known effect against rumen fluke but the products containing this drug have no specific label claim for treating rumen fluke. Unlike for liver fluke, this medicine is effective against both immature and mature stages of rumen fluke, so the timing of treatment after housing will depend on whether there is also a liver fluke problem on the farm. Discuss the treatment options with your vet who knows the specific situation on your farm.

If an animal has a heavy burden of lung worms, will that cause lung damage that is picked up in the factory?

The veterinary inspector might be able to see a heavy burden of lung worm but unfortunately this specific cause for a pneumonia won’t be recorded by the Beef HealthCheck programme, only that a pneumonia was present. Speak to the factory veterinarian before slaughter if you suspect this might be a problem and you would like them to give feedback.  

Is the difference in age of slaughter on account of livefluke not solely down to turnout and housing dates being earlier in the west?

The analysis carried out considered the location and type of the slaughter farms to account for some differences in management and production systems across the country. While not all management factors can be taken into account, individual herds are considered in the analysis so that animals with and without liver fluke from the same herds would be compared against each other.

If a Suckler farmer sells cull cows in the Mart prior to slaughter can the Liver Fluke report be made available to the suckler farmer?

Unfortunately, due to GDPR reasons, the Beef HealthCheck data can only be made directly available to the owner of the animals at the time of slaughter. These will need to be requested directly from the buyer who would have access to the information.  

Download the presentation : Abattoir lesions in cattle - Natascha Meunier - Teagasc Beef Conference 2022 (PDF)
Read more about the National Beef Conference 2022