The Incidence of Condemnations of Market Lambs, Yearlings, and Mature Ewes and Rams, Carcasses and Offal, Nationally, and Implications for Minimizing These Losses

The mission of the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is to assure the safety, wholesomeness, and proper labeling of meat and poultry for the consumer. Current protocol for assuring the safety of the product is to have the product inspected by an FSIS Veterinary Medical Officer (VMO). The FSIS VMO is responsible for making decisions regarding normal and diseased animals, carcasses and their parts.

The disposition of the animals is directed by criteria that are found in the Meat and Poultry Inspection Regulations Manual (parts 309 and 311). In addition, Disposition Sections of parts 9 and 11 of the Meat and Poultry Inspection Manual, current written policies such as FSIS Directive 6240.1 (11/10/94), and the Bovine Mycobacteriosis Guideline are intended to direct disposition. The text used for the majority of this report is the Livestock and Carcass Disposition Review (Fall 1997).

A VMO's diagnosis precedes a disposition. The VMO's diagnosis is simply a summary of the health status for the live animal or the tissue status for the carcass and its parts. A diagnosis will direct the disposition, therefore the Review can only be of value in arriving at a disposition after a VMO makes a diagnosis. Although the consumer's best interest is always considered to be the most important consideration, a disposition should never be so stringent as to waste, unnecessarily, any valuable product.

Dispositions require a science-based method of evaluating the eligibility of livestock and carcasses for human consumption. Thus, the VMO is charged to make appropriate decisions. There are four basic components in this decision-making process. Those components include: (1) History: data such as ownership; geographical, herd, or lot origin; and special handling; (2) Examination: supporting the VMO diagnosis through the antemortem findings associated with the postmortem lesions, determination of acute or chronic and localized or generalized pathology and/or the determination of a condition or disease that may be linked to any generalized changes, et cetera; (3) Diagnosis: a summary that is definitive of all the involved case factors which is made either antemortem or post mortem; (4) Disposition: the process of actually enforcing the Meat Inspection Act requirements.

Upon the veterinarian's antemortem inspection of livestock, the disposition choices are: (1) Passed for regular slaughter, (2) Passed as a "U.S. Suspect", or (3) Identified as "U.S. Condemned." Of the postmortem disposition choices, a carcass may be passed for food or condemned. However, there are many other possibilities that are identified between those two extremes.

Those possibilities include:

 (1) Pass the carcass for human food ("U.S. Inspected and Passed")
(2) Retain the carcass and later pass for human food ("U.S. Inspected and Passed") as normal or within the normal range or after localized lesions are removed and condemned
(3) Condemn the carcass or parts for human food ("U.S. Inspected and Condemned") and properly denature and render or incinerate or allow for use as pet food
(4) Hold carcass and parts pending laboratory tests
(5) Pass the carcass and parts with restrictions as follows:

(a) Pass for heating by heating thoroughly to an internal temperature of at least 140°F; (e.g., Cysticercus ovis)
(b) Pass for refrigeration by holding the carcasses to an internal temperature of no more than 15°F continuously for a minimum
of 10 days
(c) Pass for use as comminuted, or pulverized, cooked product (e.g., eosinophilic myositis)
(d) Pass for cooking by thoroughly heating to an internal temperature of at least 170°F and hold at that temperature for a minimum of 30 minutes (e.g., tuberculosis, sarcocystosis, caseous lymphadenitis, or Cysticercus cellulosae).

 

Table 1. Top 10 condemnations for mature sheep, lambs and yearling sheep by year and cause (%).
Mature Sheep: Lambs and Yearlings:
1998
1999
2000
 1998
1999
2000
Caseous Lymphadenitis SH GT 37.60
44.23
38.40
 Icterus 17.55
19.67
13.42
Emaciation 7.89
11.17
14.39
 Pneumonia 13.61
14.49
12.90
Misc. Parasitic Conditions 20.03
12.98
8.96
 Septicemia 7.91
8.56
11.60
Pneumonia 6.97
5.52
8.81
 Arthritis 8.37
8.25
7.77
Abscess Pyemia 6.97
5.85
5.69
 Injuries 1.22
0.95
7.77
Injuries 0.55
1.53
3.67
 Cysticercosis 5.20
13.28
6.62
Arthritis 4.51
2.56
3.32
 Caseous Lymphadenitis SH GT 6.46
7.38
6.90
Contamination 4.37
1.15
3.02
 Toxemia 4.02
4.15
6.33
Icterus 2.16
3.30
2.97
 Uremia 6.23
5.55
6.18
Actinomycosis Actinobacillosis 0.70
0.70
2.57
 Abscess Pyemia 7.00
4.72
5.61
Total Number 2726
2426
1987
 Total Number 2615
2629
2086
Total Number Slaughtered 210,800
187,600
167,000
 Total Number Slaughtered 3,459,500
3,368,700
3,141,000

 

Table 2. Causes, descriptions, and preventions of the top ten causes of carcass condemnation for mature and young sheep.
Cause Description Prevention / Handling
Caseous Lymphadentitis (CLA) • Chronic, contagious disease caused by the bacteria Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis
• Entry can be from unsanitary shearing wounds and/or cuts (superficial CLA) or via the digestive or respiratory tract (visceral CLA)
• Causes lesions, unilateral enlargement of the lymph nodes, and occasionally invades the lungs and spleen

• Use sanitary practices for shearing
• Cull any carriersˇ Isolate infected animals immediately
• Vaccination programs work, if started with the young and administered annual boosters
Emaciation • Many various diseases and/or flock problems can cause emaciation, such as Caseous Lymphadentitis, Actinobacillus, poor teeth or diet, etc. • Flock management for sanitation and diseases, as well as proper dietary management
Miscellaneous Parasitic Conditions • Description varies with each parasitic infection • Control parasites with proper flock health management
Pneumonia •Acute infection that is caused by a complex interaction of environmental factors that produce stress to the animal, and a variety of possible microorganisms
• Pneumonia will damage the cell lining in the respiratory tract, which allows the invasion of the microorganism		 • Because the majority of pneumonia problems are contracted as a young lamb, proper management
of the lambing facility is key
• Minimize stress to animals whenever possible
(i.e.-transportation, mixing, etc.)
• Feed and water sanitation
Abscess Pyemia • A general form of Septicemia (see description below)
• Pus in the blood		 • Use proper flock health management
• Euthanize severely ill animals
Injuries/Bruises • Poor handling causes bruising or injuries • Proper handling practices, coupled with equipment and facilities will minimize injuries
• If animal is severely injured, cull prior to animal's inability to walk, etc.
Arthritis • Enlargement of one or more joints upon harvest inspection, usually with increased amounts of synovial fluid • Minimize animal's time on concrete
• Avoid animal injuries
Contamination • Failure to meet zero tolerance • This is a probable processing problem, however it can be minimized by practicing proper animal hygiene management
Icterus • Icterus is a yellowish color in the tissues of the carcass due to an increased amount of bilirubin (reddish yellow pigment) in the blood and tissues
• Three types can occur:
1) Obstructive: caused by an obstruction of the bile duct by parasites, calculi, abscesses, tumors, etc.
2) Hemolytic: caused by increased destruction of erythrocytes (red blood cells)
3) Toxic: caused by a degeneration of liver cells that occurs during an intoxication, such as copper toxicity		 • Flock health management is key to prevent or treat the causes of this disease manifestation
Acinomycosis Actinobacillosis • Chronic and infectious disease, but is not contagious
• Commonly called "lumpy jaw" in cattle
• Bacteria invade the soft tissue of the lower jaw and lip and cause abscesses to develop in the area of irritation and inflammation		 • Avoid using feed that may have excessive amounts of thorns or grassy awns that would damage the soft tissues of the mouth
Septicemia • Acute, infectious disease, but is not contagious
• It is caused by bacteria that reside in the soil, silage and animal waste is ingested by the animal
• Septicemia will cause neurological disturbances, such as circling, facial paralysis, etc.		 • Avoid feeding manure-contaminated materials, low quality and spoiled silages, as they are more prone of contamination
• Isolate any infected animals
Cysticercosis • Invasion of the tissue by the larvae of a tapeworm of dogs and foxes • Interrupt the life cycle of the tapeworm by:
1) Heat or bury any sheep offal (prevents the infection of the dogs or foxes)
2) Treat all farm/ranch dogs
3) Constrain farm/ranch dogs to certain areas
Toxemia • Description will vary due to the toxic agent • Proper health and feed management is key
Uremia • Uremia is caused by a bladder rupture, spilling urine into the peritoneal cavity and causing reabsorption
• The bladder rupture is often a result of urinary calculi problems		 • Treat the urinary calculi
• Remember to feed Calcium and Phosphorus levels of 2:1 (Ca:P)
• Assure access to clean, unfrozen water

Residues:
Lamb
Mature Sheep
Lamb by Class
Mature Sheep by Class

Go back to Chapter 10 | Home