Field postmortem examination practices in cattle production systems: a scoping review of knowledge, attitudes, training and barriers

Postmortem Examination (PME), or necropsy is an important tool for diagnosing disease, determining cause of death, monitoring herd health and supporting epidemiological surveillance in cattle production systems. Despite its recognized value, PME is not routinely performed in the field.

This scoping review aimed to synthesize the available evidence regarding knowledge, attitudes, barriers, and training needs related to field PMEs in cattle production systems.

A scoping review was conducted following the methodological framework proposed by Arksey and O'Malley and further refined by Levac et al. Reporting of the review was guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). Literature searches were performed in PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, supplemented by manual searches and citation tracking. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they addressed field PMEs in cattle production systems and involved veterinarians, producers, farm workers, managers, or veterinary students. Data were extracted, tabulated, and synthesized descriptively.

A total of 988 references were identified. After removing 328 duplicate references, 660 records underwent title and abstract screening, and 521 were excluded, leaving 139 full text references for eligibility. Title and abstract screening and full-text review were completed independently by two reviewers. Inter-reviewer agreement was fair during title and abstract screening (Cohen's κ = 0.285) and high agreement during full-text review (Cohen's κ = 0.953). Twelve (12) studies met the inclusion criteria, exploring field PME training and reporting practices while identifying gaps and barriers across veterinary stakeholders.

The limited evidence identified in this review highlights a lack of standardized procedure for field PME performance and training practices that will support evidence-based decision-making for herd health.

The reviewed literature consistently highlighted the value of field PMEs in terms of disease diagnosis and herd health management. Reported barriers included producer reluctance, time constraints, economic considerations, carcass disposal challenges, biosecurity concerns, and lack of training in PME procedures. Several studies also identified the lack of training and continuing education opportunities for veterinarians.