Condemnation of bovine carcasses due to tuberculosis-gross lesions in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil: Associated risk factors.

Surveillance of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) lesions in animals at slaughterhouses is useful for controlling and eradicating the disease, besides providing epidemiological information. This study aimed to identify risk factors for bovine tuberculosis (bTB) condemnation in cattle at slaughterhouses in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. A logistic regression analysis was conducted using data on bTB-related condemnations. Variables examined included animal origin, number of slaughtered animals, season, inspection level (state or municipality), animal sex, and slaughterhouse location. A total of 297,817 Animal Transport Guides were evaluated, representing the transportation of 3497,521 animals. Among these, 6097 (2.05%) had at least one animal condemned due to bTB lesions. Risk factors for condemnation included larger batch sizes, female animals, slaughterhouses, and animal origin. The higher condemnation frequency in females and regions with dairy farms suggests links to milk production. Variation in condemnation rates by inspection level and slaughterhouse highlights the need for standardized procedures in identifying bTB lesions. Identifying these risk factors enables targeted interventions to enhance disease control and eradication efforts.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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