Post-mortem inspection in slaughterhouses plays a key role in the epidemiological surveillance of infectious diseases, including bTB. This study assessed the prevalence of bTB in cattle in Sicily during two different three-year periods (2010-2012; 2017-2019), using data from meat inspections and histopathological methods. Out of 100,196 cattle, 5221 (5.21%) were diagnosed with tuberculous lesions. Higher prevalence of bTB was recorded during the triennium 2010-2012 (6.74%; n = 3692) compared to the triennium 2017-2019 (3.36%; n = 1529), with a decreasing trend in annual occurrence throughout the study period and a heterogenous proportion of infected cattle among the Sicilian provinces (p < 0.01). Lower rates of infection were recorded in animals aged <12 months and >84 months (p < 0.0001). Pearson's chi square analysis revealed a higher localization of lesions in the thoracic cavity (p < 0.0001). Gathered findings show that even though bTB occurrence in cattle was greatly reduced over the years, the disease still remains widespread in Sicily, also posing severe implications for public health.
Keywords: Bovine tuberculosis; Sicily; cattle; histopathology; meat-inspection; slaughterhouse surveillance.