Występowanie zmian chorobowych i odchyleń jakościowych w tuszach owiec i kóz rzeźnych w Polsce w latach 2003-2013

The aim of the study was to analyze the results of postmortem examinations conducted by the Veterinary Inspectorate on sheep and goats in Polish slaughterhouses in 2003-2013. During this period, over 260,000 sheep and goats were slaughtered, of which 0.8% were slaughter goats. In 92,050 carcasses, that is, in 35.21% of all carcasses examined, pathological lesions or quality changes were found. Only 448 carcasses, that is, 0.49% of carcasses with pathological lesions or quality changes, and 0.17% of all carcasses examined, were judged unfit for consumption. The most frequent lesions were parasitic invasions (49.69%) and purulent foci (47.96%). On the other hand, the most common causes of the rejection of carcasses as unfit for consumption were natural death or slaughter in a moribund condition (41.52%), followed by purulent foci (13.39%) and emaciation (11.16%). In the past 11 years, there have been only 23 cases of scrapie (5.13% of carcasses unfit for consumption). Since 2010 there has been a systematic decrease in the number of carcasses showing pathological lesions, and since 2009 there has been a decrease in the number of carcasses diagnosed with parasitic invasions, and at the same time no meat has been rejected on this ground. What was characteristic of this period was a small number of lesions caused by microorganisms, and, since 2004, a decreasing number of carcasses with qualitative changes, including excessive emaciation and insufficient bleeding, hydraemia, jaundice, organoleptic anomalies, incomplete bleeding, natural death or slaughter in moribund condition, purulent foci, contamination, and congestion.