Authors : A.K. Mohammed and I.R. Muhammad
Abstract: Clinical and necropsy cases of fatal polythene bag rumen impaction in cattle at the National Animal Production Research Institute, Shika-Zaria, Nigeria is reported. Observed clinical signs in the affected animals were emaciation, inappetance, weakness and recumbency. Woven polythene materials weighing between 2.5 and 4.3 kg partially blocking the rumino-reticular opening were recovered at necropsy. A retrospective study of cattle necropsy case files over a five-year period (2000-2004) indicated that 51.2% of the mortalities had masses of non-degradable polythene materials recovered from their rumens while the meat laboratory records on slaughtered cattle in the Institute within the same period indicated that 40.3% had rumen impaction due to ingestion of polythene materials of various sizes and shapes. The results of the study indicate that clinical signs alone are not good determinants of polythene bag rumen impaction in cattle. The relatively non-availability of pasture in some parts of northern Nigeria during the dry season predisposes malnourished and mineral deficient cattle to scavenge on the widely available used and improperly disposed polythene bags that litter the environment. The need for state legislation against improper disposal of non-biodegradable synthetic polythene materials to make the environment safe for our ruminants is recommended in this study.
A.K. Mohammed and I.R. Muhammad , 2007. Fatal Polythene Bag Rumen Impaction in Cattle at Shika-Zaria, Nigeria. Research Journal of Animal Sciences, 1: 6-8.