The Incidence and Characteristics of Phytobezoars in Sheep Slaughtered at Some Abattoirs in Kordofan, Sudan

Prior to investigation a preliminary work was conducted to assess the degree of the phytobezoars in sheep slaughtered at Elobeid city and other four abattoirs selected from different locations within Kordofan States, Sudan from November 2007 to March 2008. A total of 1000 sheep digestive organs were examined for the presence of phytobezoars. Of the total animals examined 750 rams 250 and ewes accounted for (75 %) and (25 %), respectively. The overall prevalence of phytobezoars was found to be 15.5 % (n= 155). Of these 95 (53.1%) were rams and 60 (46.9%) were ewes. Though the phytobezoars were recovered as the most common foreign bodies, other types of foreign bodies retrieved that included plastic, hair ball and bezoars of mixed materials but they were of limited amounts. Lambs were the major age category among sheep diagnosed with phytobezoars than other age groups in the sample. The weight, volume and density of the phytobezoars retrieved were affected by the site of their formation within the digestive system. The degree of incidence was also affected by sheep body condition score where emaciated and thin animals had higher % of phytobezoars than fat and obese sheep. Results of this study indicated that the prevalence of phtytobezoars in sheep that were raised on rangelands was positively associated with high density and frequency of definite species of forbs such as Ipomaea kordofana, I. blepharocephala, Merrimia emarginanata and I. eriocarpus. The likely reason for the incidence would be plant composition change that is brought about by overgrazing that resulted from removal of palatable species and that were replaced by less palatable and in some cases harmful to the animals dependent on it.