A METHOD TO DETERMINE LUNG HEALTH IN LAMBS PRIOR TO KOSHER SLAUGHTER

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: HATCH
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 0216487
• Project Start Date: Oct 1, 2008
• Project End Date: Sep 30, 2011
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
CORNELL UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
ITHACA,NY 14853

Performing Department
FOOD SCIENCE

Non Technical Summary
There are special challenges in producing kosher animals; one of the most important is the issue of lung health. Following religious slaughter the bodek inspects the inner organs focusing on the lungs. He checks the lungs before they are removed, looking for adhesions between the lung lobes and the parietal pleura of the thoracic cavity. After the lungs are removed the lungs are blown up and immersed in water to determine that they are intact. Only if sheep and goats are without adhesions and have a lung intact, can the meat go into the kosher market. Ultrasonographic examination of the ovine chest is an inexpensive, non-invasive, procedure using readily transportable equipment. The objective of the research is to innovate and standardize a diagnostic method that is able to check the lung health of live sheep and goats. The following procedures should lead to the understanding of the potential of ultrasound in this application: (1) a pilot study to locate lung lesions in slaughtered animals. The lungs will be inspected and the location and extent of their possible lesions will be noted on a 2 dimensional lung figure. (2) Determination of the technical characteristics for ultrasound examination of sheep and goats. (3) Evaluation of a computerized system for lung-health certification in finished sheep and goats to select animals with healthy lungs for kosher slaughter. (4) A series of slaughter houses studies that will test the precision, the accuracy and the inter-observer agreement when using the new method.

Animal Health Component

100%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

(N/A)

Applied

100%

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
307	3610	1020	50%
307	3620	1020	20%
307	3820	1020	30%

Knowledge Area
307 - Animal Management Systems;

Subject Of Investigation
3610 - Sheep, live animal; 3620 - Meat, sheep; 3820 - Goats, meat, and mohair;

Field Of Science
1020 - Physiology;

Keywords

lungs

sheep

goats

lambs

kids

ultrasound

lung adhesions

kosher

Goals / Objectives
The project objective is to innovate and standardize a diagnostic method that is able to check lung health of live sheep and lambs. The method selected does not use any substances or energy system that would require a withdrawal period prior to using the animal for human food. This work will assist in accomplishing two broader goals. In both the case of selecting sheep/lambs (or goats) for further breeding or in the case of selecting animals for kosher slaughter, it is important that animals with good lung health be used. Currently, determination of this most important property on live animals is simply not possible in a timely and economical way. Thus, if the work is successful, both of these two areas would benefit. This would help meet the religious needs of Jewish consumers, but would also provide opportunities for more farmers to successfully grow sheep and goats for the ethnic markets. With more land being made available for alternative agriculture, this could be quite beneficial to farmers with access to land. The ability to select the highest quality breeding stock will also help the agricultural community select animals that are appropriate for more rapidly increasing herd health. Thus the use of ultrasound could be a win/win situation. Furthermore, the same benefits could then be expected for cattle after some further investigation. This is an intriguing enough opportunity that even knowing that ultrasound cannot accomplish this goal at this time would be useful scientific/technical information. If successful we anticipate that these techniques, being non-invasive and cost-effective would be adopted over a reasonably short period of time by producers and processors. Specific Objectives: 1. a pilot, cross-sectional study of the topography of lung lesions in finished lambs. 2. Determination of the technical characteristics for the ultrasound examination of the apical lobe of the right lung in finished lambs. 3. Evaluation of a computerized system for lung-health certification in finished lambs. 4. A series of three studies in slaughter houses that will test the precision, the accuracy and the interobserver agreement of the new method.

Project Methods
We have to reflect on its major weakness when investigating the thorax, i.e., the fact that the sound waves are reflected by the aerated lung. Our assumption is that we can overcome this limitation if we could identify a lung area that fulfils the following two criteria: (a) it is an area that can be investigated by ultrasound; and (b) it is in an accessible place and involves the lung-pathology all or at least the majority of the time. The apical lobe of the right lung located in the cranioventral aspect of the thorax is most commonly involved with the lamb lung's pathological changes and can theoretically be investigated by ultrasound. The following procedures containing four steps should lead to the understanding as to the potential of ultrasound in this application: (1) A pilot cross-sectional study of the topography of lung lesions in finished lambs that will take place in slaughter houses and will test the hypothesis that the apical lobe of the right lung is commonly affected during the majority of the lung pathology cases in lambs. For each sheep carcass checked, the lungs will be inspected and the location and extent of their possible lesions will be noted on a 2 dimensional lung figure. (2) Determination of the technical characteristics for ultrasound examination of the apical lobe of the right lung in finished lambs, i.e., the specific space-area that has to be scanned by the ultrasound, the necessary MHz of the sector transducer that could be used, the shape of the probe to be used, the necessary chest-depth that can be investigated, etc. (3) Evaluation of a computerized system for lung-health certification. The scanning technique will be standardized so as to be able to provide images for digital analysis. Second, digital images of ultrasound scans of healthy and unhealthy lung tissue from live sheep and goats of different weight will be gathered into a database. Third, a computerized system will be evaluated that will compare any future image obtained with images from confirmed healthy and unhealthy cases found in the database. This would make it possible to select animals with healthy lungs and move animals with unhealthy lungs into either non-kosher slaughter or non-breeding channels. The use of computerized systems allows a more objective and reproducible evaluation of the ultrasound image and minimizes the impact of different investigators. This should also make the system more practical for the small-scale farmer to use economically. Computerized systems that assist the ultrasound diagnosis are not yet available in practice in veterinary medicine but the experience in human medicine is very promising. (4) A series of three cross sectional studies in slaughter houses that will test the precision, the accuracy and the inter-observer agreement when using the new method.

Progress 10/01/08 to 09/30/11

Outputs
OUTPUTS: The project has captured images of the ultrasound of sheep lungs, pictures of their lungs, with and with air in them, and also with the pathology identified. Some general site pictures were also taken. Animals were ultrasounded in various venues. In one case we worked with the USDA Inspectors on site and educated them about what was being done. The summary of the work accomplished, i.e., the ability to distinguish lungs that have no problems (i.e., have ring down) and those with problems having more complex patterns) has been widely disseminated through a number of talks of the PI around the world. An article for the industry magazine the National Provisioner through a program of the American Meat Science Association has been prepared. Discussions with companies that might benefit from the technology and religious leaders have been initiated to determine how the ability to screen animals for kosher slaughter might be incorporated into industrial practice. A paper is being prepared showing how to use the ultrasound and distinguish between clean and unclean lungs. A veterinary student and a farmer involved in designing religious slaughter equipment have been trained in the use of the technology and are continuing to use the method to relate animal health to lung condition, i.e., animals are still being ultrasounded. PARTICIPANTS: Kristin Pufpaff College of Veterinary Medicine The Ohio State University Receiving training and professional development in doing ultrasound. Moving the project forward. James Stouffer Department of Animal Science Cornell University Provided assistance in interpreting the ultrasound and doing the work. Robert Wanner Animal Ultrasound Services Provided assistance in interpreting the ultrasound, arranging for the equipment, setting up the equipment and the related software. Mary Smith Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences Cornell University Provide pathology services and insight into lung health. Larry Jacoby Shepherd Song Farm Downing, WI Received training in ultrasound and prepared to make his facility of 400 or so sheep and goats available for further work. TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audience is first those selecting animals for religious slaughter. The goal is to integrate ultrasound into the system so that animals that should not go to kosher slaughter will be excluded. A secondary audience is farmers and others involved with herd health. Raising healthier animals is everyone's goal. Animals with compromised lungs are not desired. The use of ultrasound on the farm and correlations with health and management should provide insights into the prevention of such negative changes. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.

Impacts
The current work is confirming that one can use ultrasound to look at the lungs of live animals and that the signal from a clean lung is different from that of a compromised lung. Post-slaughter inspection and pathology is showing that in many cases the lung adhesions are observed. Thus, the goal as the project moves forward without USDA funding is to refine the methodology and interpretation of the ultrasound of compromised lungs to both permit screening of animals prior to slaughter and subsequently to use this data along with animal health records to try to determine what changes in animal management might improve lung health. This should have both beneficial impact for those involved in kosher slaughter operations but should also lead to improvements in overall herd health. Because of the current shortage of cattle, some of the companies are more interested in keeping their lines running than in working to improve the success rate of kosher slaughter. However, the religious community continues to be enthusiastic about looking for opportunities to apply the procedures.

Publications

• No publications reported this period

Progress 10/01/09 to 09/30/10

Outputs
OUTPUTS: The research continues to gather data from sheep lungs prior to and immediately after slaughter using the ultrasound equipment. These are then captured digitally, photographs obtained, and a pathology report prepared. The project now has its own ultrasound equipment. PARTICIPANTS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
The production of kosher meat requires special inputs. These include the slaughter by a professional slaughter man, the different removal of inner parts while leaving the heart and lungs intact so a second professional can check the lungs for various defects that would render the entire animal non-kosher. With all that investment, the downgrading of the entire carcasses to the regular meat supply (as most such animals will pass the USDA FSIS inspection) means that the costs of these special services must be borne by the remaining kosher meat. Thus, this project has been looking at using ultrasound to check the lungs of ruminants, currently focusing on sheep. (Kosher birds are not subject to this detailed lung examination.) The results suggest that the ultrasound signal that is obtained from the space between the first and fourth ribs scanning both vertically and longitudinally will show two broad patterns, i.e., those which suggest a perfect lung in that area and those indicating issues. At this time the emphasis is on trying to determine if discriminating among the "bad" lungs is worthwhile and with beginning discussions with the industry to determine how such a system might actually be fitted into the current schemes for purchasing and transporting animals for kosher slaughter. Contact with beef producers is also taking place to determine if the system can be extended to beef. Preliminary results suggest this should be possible. Since this area is looking at the right lowest lobe of the lung looking from the top side of the lungs and that lobe is generally the first to show problems, it appears that animals could be screened ahead of time to suggest animals that should not be used for kosher slaughter.

Publications

• No publications reported this period

Progress 10/01/08 to 09/30/09

Outputs
OUTPUTS: The lungs of a number of sheep and lambs have been ultrasounded. Two basic patterns (which need more analysis) have been obtained. Some have "clean" lungs in the region observable, while others clearly have issues. The sheep are then slaughtered and an internal lung inspection carried out according to Jewish religious tradition. Some of the animals have lung adhesions and others do not. These adhesions do seem to correlate with the ultrasound of the live animal. After the internal inspection, lungs are removed and inspected again. Pictures are taken. The lungs are then sent for pathology. Further pictures and pathology reports are obtained. The current work focuses on going over the data received to date to more systematically analyze the results now that the basic operations are in place. PARTICIPANTS: The only new addition to the project has been Rabbi Jason Leib, the representative of the Orthodox Union on campus, who is also providing insights into the religious requirements. TARGET AUDIENCES: This project is most directly targeting slaughterhouses that do kosher. The eventual beneficiaries, however, include those who buy kosher meat and the farmers who wish to enter this potentially value-added special market. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
If this project is successful, ultrasound will be able to be used to both select animals for religious slaughter and to help farmers ascertain where in their animal management the problems causing rejections occur. If successful, this project will have a significant impact on the success rate for kosher slaughter (where the post-mortem lung problems lead to major rejections of animals) and thus will lower the costs of kosher meat, making it more desirable and possibly expanding the market and possibly providing a premium for farmers who can grow animals that are acceptable.

Publications

• No publications reported this period