An abattoir survey on the pathology of swine livers [in Peninsular Malaysia]

A five-weeks study on the pathology of condemned livers of 100 pigs comprising 75 porkers and 25 sows at Shah Alam abbattoir was conducted. The liver lesions consisted of 36 with milkspots, 16 with perihepatitis, 12 with abscessations, 11 with cholangiohepatitis, 8 with cholangitis, 5 with nodular hyperplasia, 4 with focal necrosis, 3 with post-necrotic scarring, 2 with lipidosis and one case each of cystic bile duct hyperplasia, massive necrosis and hepatocarcinoma. Milkspots due to migration of Ascaris suum larvae was a major problem in porker (41%) fourteen (39%) of the milkspot livers were severely affected having a 4+ lesion score with all the lobes affected. Perihepatitis was seen only in porkers while nodular hyperplasia only in sows. Escherichia coli and Klebsiella sp. were the common bacteria isolated from the abscesses. The possible causes of the lesions are discussed