Vet World   Vol.12   October-2019  Article-18

Prevalence and economic losses of calf fetal wastage in ELAKAT public slaughterhouse of Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo

Background and Aim: This study was conducted to assess the prevalence of calf fetal wastage and its economic implications at ELAKAT slaughterhouse, Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) to fill the research gap in relationship with this thematic. The study investigations took place from May to September 2018.

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was carried at the slaughterhouse. For each visit, the number of cattle slaughtered, the number of pregnant cows slaughtered, and gestational ages (stage of pregnancy of the dam, and estimated by crown-rump length) of the fetuses were recorded.

Results: Out of the 1035 cattle slaughtered during the study period, 970 were females. A total of 255 fetuses were recovered, representing a fetal recovery rate of 26.28%. The study established that one fetus was lost out of 4.5 cows slaughtered, and most of fetuses recovered (58.1%) were in the first trimester of gestation while 29.1% and 12.8% were, respectively, in the second and third trimester. Their age varied from 1.2 to 8.6 months, with body length ranging from 14 cm to 92 cm while their weight varied from 1.0 kg to 23.0 kg. The economic loss associated with the total cattle fetal wastages was estimated at Congo Democratic Francs (CDF) 29,906,400 ($15,787.5) with a monthly average of CDF 5,981,280 ($3,157.5).

Conclusion: These results attested that slaughtering pregnant cows constitute a strong constraint on cattle industry development in DR Congo. Urgent measures, such as adequate enforcement of legislations on routine veterinary examinations at slaughterhouses as well as livestock owner's sensitization, are required to avoid selling pregnant cows during calving season. Keywords: cattle, Democratic Republic of Congo, economic implications, fetal loss, South Kivu.

Keywords: cattle, Democratic Republic of Congo, economic implications, fetal loss, South Kivu.

How to cite this article: Mutwedu VB, Buuma BK, Mushagalusa AC, Bisimwa NP, Cirezi NC, Mugumaarhahama Y, Ayagirwe RBB (2019) Prevalence and economic losses of calf fetal wastage in ELAKAT public slaughterhouse of Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo, Veterinary World, 12(10): 1644-1649.

Received: 13-04-2019  Accepted: 05-09-2019     Published online: 26-10-2019

Corresponding author: Valence Bwana Mutwedu   E-mail: mutweduvalence@gmail.com

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2019.1644-1649

Copyright: Mutwedu, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.