The main objectives of this study can be divided into four categories: a) The determination of the presence of abscesses in carcasses. b) The determination whether the abscesses are area bound. c) The determination of the causative bacteria which is responsible for abscess formation. d) The determination of the economic impact due to carcass rejections and trimmings. The research area consists of the biggest part of the Northern Cape province, which can further be divided into three main production areas, namely Groblershoop, Gordonia and Hantam. The Groblershoop area includes Groblershoop and the surrounding districts. The Gordonia area includes Upington and the Kalahari. The Hantam area includes Calvinia, Springbok and the other districts bordering the areas. All the carcasses were slaughtered at an export abattoir, namely LAW, which is situated in Groblershoop. The Upington veterinary laboratory bacteriologically cultured the abscess material and the results were processed and noted. The following results were prominent: a) It was determined that abscesses did occur in carcasses. b) It was determined that in the Hantam main production area the prevalence of abscesses is the highest, although the slaughter numbers are the lowest. c) It was determined that the bacterium that was responsible for most of the abscesses was Escherichia coli. d) It was determined that the total occurrence of bacteria did not have a significant economic impact, because there were not many carcass rejections due to abscesses. The economic impact, however, of the value of the total rejections, might become a problem.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nmmu/vital:10971 |
| Date | January 2003 |
| Creators | Delport, Riëtte |
| Publisher | Port Elizabeth Technikon, Faculty of Science |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Masters, MTech (Agricultural Management) |
| Format | 105 pages, pdf |
| Rights | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University |
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