BIOCHEMICAL AND HEMATOLOGICAL VALUES IN ABATTOIR PIGS WITH AND WITHOUT SUBCLINICAL LESIONS

The biochemical and haematological profiles of 379 pigs with or withou t various gross pathological lesions in an abattoir in Zimbabwe were s tudied to see whether there were any differences between the levels of haematological and biochemical values, and health status (with and wi thout pathological lesions). On the basis of observable gross patholog y, 134 pigs were classified as having one or more subclinical lesions (liver milk spot, pneumonia, pleurisy, pericarditis, abscesses and art hritis). Seventy-six of these were males and 58 females. There were ob servable sex differences in the mean haematological and biochemical Va lues obtained. Erythrocyte counts showed significant differences in me an values (P<0,05) among groups of pigs found with various pathologica l lesions. The biochemical values showed significant group differences for ALP, ALT, AST, and LDH.