Prevalence of major sheep diseases and analysis of mortality in selected model sheep villages of south Gondar administrative zone, Ethiopia

A cross sectional and retrospective case study design were carried out from May 2008 to April 2012 in model sheep villages of Farta and Lay Gaint districts with the objective of identifying major sheep diseases, to assess the magnitude of sheep mortality and recommend disease and mortality control options in the study areas. Retrospective study was employed for 184 (89 from Farta and 95 from Lay Gaint) diagnosed sheep from case registration book of respective woreda and kebele veterinary clinics to collect information about the prevailing sheep diseases in the study areas. Among major sheep  diseases, Respiratory Disease Complex (RDC) (38.6%), Enteritis (22.6%), Fasciolosis (19.6%), Generalized septicemic condition (GSC) (13.0%), Sheep pox (12.0%), Foot rot (2.2%) and Orf (1.1%) were commonly diagnosed ovine diseases in the study areas. Ninety four (94) questionnaires were administered to sheep producers to understand sheep management practices, identifying major sheep production constraints and to assess the magnitude of sheep mortality. A total of 242 fecal samples were collected for the analysis sheep internal parasites. The major identified internal parasites of sheep were Strongyle spp (43.0%), Paramphistmum (21.5%), Fasciola (20.2%),  Tricuris (8.3%), Monezia (8.3%), Coccidia (5.0%) and Schistosoma (1.7%). A significant differences (P<0.05) was observed in Fasciolosis across study districts which showed higher prevalence of Fasciola (14.5%) from Farta and relatively lower (5.8%) from Lay Gaint district. EPG count shown that, 83.6% of sheep positive with nematode was categorized in the range of light infection (50-800 EPG) which depicts the level of  nematode infection in the population was lower. Comparison of sheep mortality over years and breed shown that, higher (26.4%) and lower (6.3%) mortality was recorded from all sheep breeds (Washera, Farta and Cross) in the year 2009 and 2012 respectively. In conclusion, the present high mortality rate and prevalence of sheep diseases were high to cause momentous economic losses in the study area. Therefore, strengthening the control effort was suggested.Key words; Farta sheep, Model sheep villages, Ovine disease, Washera sheep, Mortalit

Vitamin-A deficiency and its determinants among preschool children: A community based cross-sectional study in Ethiopia

Background Vitamin A deficiency is the leading cause of preventable visual impairments in children. It is also an underlying cause for nearly one-fourth of global child mortality associated with measles, diarrhea, and malaria. The limited literature available in Ethiopia shows severe public health significance of vitamin-A deficiency. Hence the aim of the current study was to assess the prevalence and factors determining vitamin-A deficiency among preschool children in Dembia District, northwest Ethiopia. Methods A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among preschool children of Dembia District from January to February, 2015. A multi-stage sampling, followed by a systematic sampling technique was employed to select study participants. A structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Using a binary logistic regression model, multivariable analysis was fitted to identify the associated factors of vitamin-A deficiency. The adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a 95 % confidence interval was computed to assess the strength of the association, and variables with a p value of <0.05 in multivariable analysis were considered as statistically significant. Results Six hundred eighty-one preschool children were included in the study, giving a response rate of 96.5 %. The overall prevalence of xerophthalmia was 8.6 %. The result of the multivariable analysis revealed that nonattendance at the antenatal care clinic [AOR 2.65,95 % CI (1.39,5.07)], being male [AOR 1.81, 95 % CI (1.01,3.24)], and in the age group of 49–59 months [AOR 3.00, 95 % CI (1.49,6.02)] were significantly associated with vitamin-A deficiency. Conclusions Vitamin-A deficiency is a severe public health problem in the study area. Further strengthening antenatal care utilization and giving emphasis to preschool children will help to mitigate vitamin-A deficiency in the study area

Assessing the Competitiveness of Smallholders Chickpea Production in the Central Highlands of Ethiopia

Chickpea is an important food legume in Ethiopia which provides sources of livelihood for millions of smallholder farmers. Currently, it has become an important high value crop that promotes commercialization. This study attempted to assess the competitiveness of smallholders’ chickpea production in the central highlands of Ethiopia. To this end, the domestic resource cost coefficient (DRC) analysis was employed using farm household surveys, price and trade data. Current evidences showed that there has been a significant upswing in the trends of local chickpea prices both in nominal and real terms since the last eight years. As a result, chickpea has become an important cash crop in high potential major chickpea growing areas where farmers dispose the largest proportion of their chickpea production (82%) for marketing purpose.One of the major challenges of Ethiopian chickpea export is related to the bulk of the chickpea trade (84%) being absorbed by the local markets. Moreover, the current Ethiopia’s export market share has remained at 4% while the largest proportion (94%) is destined to low value export markets. Despite all those limitations, Ethiopian chickpea exportis highly competitive in major export markets as evidenced by the DRC value which was found to be 0.20. Therefore, the competitiveness of Ethiopian chickpea in high value markets could be improved by focusing on quality, volume, and supply continuity

Nearly half of preschool children are stunted in Dembia district, Northwest Ethiopia: A community based cross-sectional study

Background Stunting has been the most pressing public health problem throughout the developing countries. It is the major causes of child mortality and global disease burden, where 80 % of this burden is found in developing countries. In the future, stunting alone would result in 22 % of loss in adult income. About 40 % of children under five-years were stunted in Ethiopia. In the country, about 28 % of child mortality is related to undernutrition. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and determinants of stunting among preschool children in Dembia district, Northwest Ethiopia. Methods A community based cross–sectional study was carried out in Dembia district, Northwest Ethiopia from January 01 to February 29, 2015. A multi-stage sampling followed by a systematic sampling technique was employed to reach 681 mother-child pairs. A pretested and structured questionnaire was used to collect data. After exporting anthropometric data to ENA/SMART software version 2012, nutritional status (stunting) of a child was determined using the WHO Multicenter Growth Reference Standard. In binary logistic regression, a multivariable analysis was carried out to identify determinants of stunting. The Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) with a 95 % confidence interval was computed to assess the strength of the association, and variables with a P-value of <0.05 in multivariable analysis were considered as statistically significant. Results A total 681 of mother-child pairs were included in the study. The overall prevalence of stunting was 46 % [95 % CI: 38.7, 53.3 %]. In multivariable analysis, the odds of stunting was higher among children whose families had no latrine [AOR = 1.6, 95 % CI: 1.1, 2.2)]. Likewise, children living in household with more than four family size [AOR =1.4, 95 % CI: 1.1, 1.9)] were more likely to be stunted. Conclusions This study confirms that stunting is a very high public health problem in Dembia district. The family size and latrine availability were significantly associated with stunting. Hence, emphasis should be given to improve the latrine coverage and utilization of family planning in the district

Socio-economic Assessment of Legume Production, Farmer Technology Choice,Market Linkages, Institutions and Poverty in Rural Ethiopia: Institutions, Markets, Policy and Impacts Research Report No. 3

Today, about 1.1 billion people continue to live in extreme poverty on less than US$1 a day. Another 1.6 billion live on between US$1–2 per day. Three out of four poor people in developing countries lived in rural areas in 2002 (WDR 2008). Most depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, directly or indirectly. In much of sub-Saharan Africa, agriculture offers a promising opportunity for spurring growth, overcoming poverty, and enhancing food security. Of the total population of sub-Saharan Africa in 2003, 66% lived in rural areas. More than 90% of rural people in these regions depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. Ryan and Spencer (2001) estimated that three-quarters of the 1.3 billion people living below the poverty line in developing countries lived in rural areas. Of these, an estimated 66% relied on marginal lands (TAC 1997). Broad-based agricultural development through improving the productivity, profi tability and sustainability of smallholder farming is the main pathway out of poverty for millions of poor farm households. Agricultural productivity growth is also vital for stimulating growth in other sectors of the economy. But accelerated growth requires a sharp productivity increase in smallholder farming combined with more effective support to the millions coping as subsistence farmers, many of them in marginal areas. Gallup and Sachs (2000) estimated that, in comparison to temperate regions, productivity was 27% lower in the humid tropics and 42% lower in the dry tropics

Smoking prevalence and attributable disease burden in 195 countries and territories, 1990-2015: a systematic analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015

BACKGROUND: The scale-up of tobacco control, especially after the adoption of the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control, is a major public health success story. Nonetheless, smoking remains a leading risk for early death and disability worldwide, and therefore continues to require sustained political commitment. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) offers a robust platform through which global, regional, and national progress toward achieving smoking-related targets can be assessed. METHODS: We synthesised 2818 data sources with spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression and produced estimates of daily smoking prevalence by sex, age group, and year for 195 countries and territories from 1990 to 2015. We analysed 38 risk-outcome pairs to generate estimates of smoking-attributable mortality and disease burden, as measured by disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs). We then performed a cohort analysis of smoking prevalence by birth-year cohort to better understand temporal age patterns in smoking. We also did a decomposition analysis, in which we parsed out changes in all-cause smoking-attributable DALYs due to changes in population growth, population ageing, smoking prevalence, and risk-deleted DALY rates. Finally, we explored results by level of development using the Socio-demographic Index (SDI). FINDINGS: Worldwide, the age-standardised prevalence of daily smoking was 25·0% (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 24·2-25·7) for men and 5·4% (5·1-5·7) for women, representing 28·4% (25·8-31·1) and 34·4% (29·4-38·6) reductions, respectively, since 1990. A greater percentage of countries and territories achieved significant annualised rates of decline in smoking prevalence from 1990 to 2005 than in between 2005 and 2015; however, only four countries had significant annualised increases in smoking prevalence between 2005 and 2015 (Congo [Brazzaville] and Azerbaijan for men and Kuwait and Timor-Leste for women). In 2015, 11·5% of global deaths (6·4 million [95% UI 5·7-7·0 million]) were attributable to smoking worldwide, of which 52·2% took place in four countries (China, India, the USA, and Russia). Smoking was ranked among the five leading risk factors by DALYs in 109 countries and territories in 2015, rising from 88 geographies in 1990. In terms of birth cohorts, male smoking prevalence followed similar age patterns across levels of SDI, whereas much more heterogeneity was found in age patterns for female smokers by level of development. While smoking prevalence and risk-deleted DALY rates mostly decreased by sex and SDI quintile, population growth, population ageing, or a combination of both, drove rises in overall smoking-attributable DALYs in low-SDI to middle-SDI geographies between 2005 and 2015. INTERPRETATION: The pace of progress in reducing smoking prevalence has been heterogeneous across geographies, development status, and sex, and as highlighted by more recent trends, maintaining past rates of decline should not be taken for granted, especially in women and in low-SDI to middle-SDI countries. Beyond the effect of the tobacco industry and societal mores, a crucial challenge facing tobacco control initiatives is that demographic forces are poised to heighten smoking's global toll, unless progress in preventing initiation and promoting cessation can be substantially accelerated. Greater success in tobacco control is possible but requires effective, comprehensive, and adequately implemented and enforced policies, which might in turn require global and national levels of political commitment beyond what has been achieved during the past 25 years.Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Bloomberg Philanthropies

National disability-adjusted life years(DALYs) for 257 diseases and injuries in Ethiopia, 1990–2015: findings from the global burden of disease study 2015

Background: Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) provide a summary measure of health and can be a critical input to guide health systems, investments, and priority-setting in Ethiopia. We aimed to determine the leading causes of premature mortality and disability using DALYs and describe the relative burden of disease and injuries in Ethiopia. Methods: We used results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2015 (GBD 2015) for non-fatal disease burden, cause-specific mortality, and all-cause mortality to derive age-standardized DALYs by sex for Ethiopia for each year. We calculated DALYs by summing years of life lost due to premature mortality (YLLs) and years lived with disability (YLDs) for each age group and sex. Causes of death by age, sex, and year were measured mainly using Causes of Death Ensemble modeling. To estimate YLDs, a Bayesian meta-regression method was used. We reported DALY rates per 100,000 for communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional (CMNN) disorders, non-communicable diseases, and injuries, with 95% uncertainty intervals (UI) for Ethiopia. Results: Non-communicable diseases caused 23,118.1 (95% UI, 17,124.4–30,579.6), CMNN disorders resulted in 20,200.7 (95% UI, 16,532.2–24,917.9), and injuries caused 3781 (95% UI, 2642.9–5500.6) age-standardized DALYs per 100,000 in Ethiopia in 2015. Lower respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, and tuberculosis were the top three leading causes of DALYs in 2015, accounting for 2998 (95% UI, 2173.7–4029), 2592.5 (95% UI, 1850.7–3495.1), and 2562.9 (95% UI, 1466.1–4220.7) DALYs per 100,000, respectively. Ischemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease were the fourth and fifth leading causes of age-standardized DALYs, with rates of 2535.7 (95% UI, 1603.7–3843.2) and 2159.9 (95% UI, 1369.7–3216.3) per 100,000, respectively. The following causes showed a reduction of 60% or more over the last 25 years: lower respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, tuberculosis, neonatal encephalopathy, preterm birth complications, meningitis, malaria, protein-energy malnutrition, iron-deficiency anemia, measles, war and legal intervention, and maternal hemorrhage

National mortality burden due to communicable, non-communicable, and other diseases in Ethiopia, 1990–2015: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015

Background: Ethiopia lacks a complete vital registration system that would assist in measuring disease burden and risk factors. We used the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk factors 2015 (GBD 2015) estimates to describe the mortality burden from communicable, non-communicable, and other diseases in Ethiopia over the last 25 years. Methods: GBD 2015 mainly used cause of death ensemble modeling to measure causes of death by age, sex, and year for 195 countries. We report numbers of deaths and rates of years of life lost (YLL) for communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional (CMNN) disorders, non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and injuries with 95% uncertainty intervals (UI) for Ethiopia from 1990 to 2015. Results: CMNN causes of death have declined by 65% in the last two-and-a-half decades. Injury-related causes of death have also decreased by 70%. Deaths due to NCDs declined by 37% during the same period. Ethiopia showed a faster decline in the burden of four out of the five leading causes of age-standardized premature mortality rates when compared to the overall sub-Saharan African region and the Eastern sub-Saharan African region: lower respiratory infections, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and diarrheal diseases; however, the same could not be said for ischemic heart disease and other NCDs. Non-communicable diseases, together, were the leading causes of age-standardized mortality rates, whereas CMNN diseases were leading causes of premature mortality in 2015. Although lower respiratory infections, tuberculosis, and diarrheal disease were the leading causes of age-standardized death rates, they showed major declines from 1990 to 2015. Neonatal encephalopathy, iron-deficiency anemia, protein-energy malnutrition, and preterm birth complications also showed more than a 50% reduction in burden. HIV/AIDS-related deaths have also decreased by 70% since 2005. Ischemic heart disease, hemorrhagic stroke, and ischemic stroke were among the top causes of premature mortality and age-standardized death rates in Ethiopia in 2015. Conclusions: Ethiopia has been successful in reducing deaths related to communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional deficiency diseases and injuries by 65%, despite unacceptably high maternal and neonatal mortality rates. However, the country’s performance regarding non-communicable diseases, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and chronic respiratory disease, was minimal, causing these diseases to join the leading causes of premature mortality and death rates in 2015. While the country is progressing toward universal health coverage, prevention and control strategies in Ethiopia should consider the double burden of common infectious diseases and non-communicable diseases: lower respiratory infections, diarrhea, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes. Prevention and control strategies should also pay special attention to the leading causes of premature mortality and death rates caused by non-communicable diseases: cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes. Measuring further progress requires a data revolution in generating, managing, analyzing, and using data for decision-making and the creation of a full vital registration system in the country

Technology generation to dissemination:lessons learned from the tef improvement project

Indigenous crops also known as orphan crops are key contributors to food security, which is becoming increasingly vulnerable with the current trend of population growth and climate change. They have the major advantage that they fit well into the general socio-economic and ecological context of developing world agriculture. However, most indigenous crops did not benefit from the Green Revolution, which dramatically increased the yield of major crops such as wheat and rice. Here, we describe the Tef Improvement Project, which employs both conventional- and molecular-breeding techniques to improve tef\u2014an orphan crop important to the food security in the Horn of Africa, a region of the world with recurring devastating famines. We have established an efficient pipeline to bring improved tef lines from the laboratory to the farmers of Ethiopia. Of critical importance to the long-term success of this project is the cooperation among participants in Ethiopia and Switzerland, including donors, policy makers, research institutions, and farmers. Together, European and African scientists have developed a pipeline using breeding and genomic tools to improve the orphan crop tef and bring new cultivars to the farmers in Ethiopia. We highlight a new variety, Tesfa, developed in this pipeline and possessing a novel and desirable combination of traits. Tesfa\u2019s recent approval for release illustrates the success of the project and marks a milestone as it is the first variety (of many in the pipeline) to be released