Pathological Survey of Foot-and-Mouth Disease Lesions in Cattle at Makurdi Abattoir, Benue State

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) remains one of the most economically devastating viral diseases of livestock in Nigeria's North Central zone, with outbreaks disrupting cattle trade and beef production annually. This study investigated gross and histopathological lesions of FMD in cattle presented at Makurdi Federal Abattoir, Benue State, during the wet season of 2023. Sixty cattle displaying characteristic vesicular lesions on the feet, tongue, and oral mucosa underwent thorough ante-mortem and post-mortem examination. Tissue specimens from affected areas, myocardium, and skeletal muscle were collected, fixed in neutral buffered formalin, and processed by routine paraffin-embedding histological methods. Gross lesions included ruptured vesicles with eroded epithelium on the coronary band, dental pad, and tongue. Histopathological findings revealed intraepidermal vesicle formation with ballooning degeneration, intracellular oedema, and epithelial necrosis. Myocardial specimens from juvenile cattle showed multifocal cardiomyocyte necrosis with infiltrating mononuclear cells, consistent with tiger heart lesions. Skeletal myodegeneration was observed in 28.3 percent of examined cattle. These lesions are consistent with current descriptions of FMD pathology in tropical Africa. The study confirms active FMD circulation in abattoir-presented cattle and recommends mandatory vaccination campaigns, improved cross-border livestock movement controls, and strengthening of veterinary laboratory diagnostic infrastructure in Benue State. Keywords: foot-and-mouth disease, histopathology, cattle, Makurdi, myocarditis