Caracterização anatomopatológica de amostras coletadas na inspeção post mortem de ovinos da região sudeste do Brasil

Abstract

The sheep meat market in Brazil grows every year always with high added value. But there are few reports that focus on the description and pathological characterization of gross alterations found during sheep slaughter for guiding professionals about the final diagnosis and proper disposal of altered tissues and carcasses. Considering this lack of information, the aim of this work is to characterize macro and microscopically the lesions in tissue samples collected during sheep slaughter in a slaughterhouse in Southern Minas Gerais and, if possible, to identify the diseases associated with these lesions, as well as correlating the findings with published data of sheep diseases, especially in the Southeast Brazil, where sheep farming is a relatively new activity. Samples with gross alterations of different tissues and organs of sheep carcasses were collected from a slaughterhouse with Federal Inspection service in Southern Minas Gerais. The inspection of sheep carcasses followed the Regulation for Industrial and Sanitary Inspection of Products of Animal Origin. The samples were collected by federal inspectors, fixed in 10% formalin, and sent from July to October 2019 to the Sector of Veterinary Pathology, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Lavras, for macroscopic evaluation, histopathological processing, and microscopic analysis. A total of 283 tissue samples from sheep deriving from 21 municipalities in the state of São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo were evaluated. With respect to the sex and age of the animals, males younger than one year were predominant. Of the 283 samples, the three main organs referred were lung, lymph node and liver. The most frequent histopathological diagnoses were chronic bronchointerstitial pneumonia (34.76%), caseous lymphadenitis (24.39%), eosinophilic granuloma (16.77%), and cysticercosis due to the larval form of Taenia hydatigena (7.93% of the diagnoses). The gross and microscopic characterization of the alterations found in the slaughter line is important as a subsidy for professionals who work in the inspection line, as they allow reducing the risk of misdiagnosis, erroneous disposal, and, consequently, reducing financial losses for slaughterhouses and sheep producers.