Research Summary - 2
Assessing Associations Between the Presence of Lesions in the Cecum and Rumen with Liver Abscesses in Feedyard Cattle Mortalities
| Date/Time: |
8/28/2026
16:45
|
| Author: |
Eric I Lorenz |
| Clinic: |
Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine |
| City, State, ZIP: |
Manhattan , KS 66506 |
Eric Lorenz , N/A
1
;
Brad White, DVM, MS
1
;
Todd Gunderson, DVM, MS, DACVPM
1
;
Josh Szasz, DVM, PhD
2
;
Luis Feitoza, DVM, PAS, PhD
3
;
1Beef Cattle Institute, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66505, USA
2Five Rivers Cattle Feeding, LLC, 4848 Thompson Pkwy #410, Johnstown, CO 80534, USA
3Innovative Livestock Services, Inc, 2006 Broadway Ave, Great Bend, KS 67530, USA
Introduction:
While the contribution of ruminal lesions to the etiology of liver abscess formation has been well studied and documented, some cases have observed the presence of liver abscesses in the absence of ruminal lesions or the presence of ruminal lesions in cattle with no liver abscesses. This lack of consistent findings suggests there may be other contributing factors to liver abscess formation, such as from hindgut ulcers. The study objective was to determine potential associations between cecal and ruminal lesions with liver abscesses. A secondary objective was to determine associations between mucosal inflammation and lesions in the cecum, duodenojejunal flexure, and abomasum, to lesions in the rumen.
Materials and methods:
A cross-sectional study of feedyard cattle mortalities (N= 529) with minimal autolysis in the Central High Plains was performed from June 2025 to July 2025. Cases that met inclusion criteria were necropsied, and the liver was inspected for the presence of abscesses. Livers were scored based on the presence or absence of abscesses. The mucosal surface of the cecum, rumen, abomasum, and duodenojejunal (DJ) flexure of all cattle necropsied were evaluated and scored based on the presence or absence of mucosal inflammation. Generalized linear mixed models were utilized to determine if the probability of liver abscesses or rumen lesions were associated with lesions in the cecum, abomasum, or DJ flexure. In each model, a random effect of feedyard was included to account for lack of independence of cases collected from the same feedyard. Statistical significance was determined with a cutoff of p ≤ 0.05.
Results:
Of gastrointestinal lesions, abomasal lesions were most common (19.7%; N= 104) followed by cecal and DJ flexure lesions (10.2%; N= 54, 10.2%; N= 54). The prevalence of ruminal lesions was 9.8% while liver abscesses were 6.8%. No associations were statistically detected between the presence of liver abscesses and any tested variable. The probability of ruminal lesions was higher (p=0.03) when cecal lesions were present (0.185 ± 0.05) compared to when no cecal lesions were identified (0.09 ± 0.013). No other variables were associated with rumen lesions.
Significance:
No associations were detected among the evaluated gastrointestinal areas and liver abscesses; however, a positive relationship was identified between ruminal and cecal lesions. This suggests further research to evaluate relationships between upper and lower GI disease may be warranted.
