Farmers’ perception of dourine in selected districts of Arsi-Bale highlands of Oromia Region, Southeastern Ethiopia

In Arsi-Bale highlands, the one common factor leading to the ill health, suffering and early demise of equines is the protozoan parasite, Trypanosoma equiperdum, causing dourine. Assessment of farmers’ perception of dourine was studied in selected districts of Arsi-Bale highlands of Oromia region, Southeastern Ethiopia from September 2015 to June, 2016. A standardized questionnaire survey was administered to collect relevant information from a total of 84 farmers about perception of dourine. The findings of this study disclosed that 94.1% of the respondents ranked dourine as an economically important disease of equines. Dourine, locally known as ‘Lappessa’ or ‘Dirressa’ or ‘Dugda Kuta’ which means a disease causing emaciation and paralysis of the hind legs. Since dourine is transmitted by coitus and due to the marked emaciation observed in late stages of the disease, some farmers call it ‘Horse’s AIDS’. The reported dourine suggestive signs were consistent with published reports and farmers strongly associated the occurrence of the disease with sexual contact with sick animals. Clinical signs used in the area for the diagnosis of dourine include paralysis of the hind quarter, in coordination, poor body condition, weakness, foul discharge from reproductive organs in both sexes, ventral odema. About 75% of the respondents also explained that the seasonality of the disease where long rainy periods from June to September to be peak risk months of the year. A total of 30% of the respondents a second peak is observed in the dry seasons of the year (March to May), which was probably associated with relapse of previously infected and recovered cases due to stressful conditions of feed shortage. Good knowledge of farmers’ perceptions on the disease dourine is an important prerequisite for implementing effective control implementation with active participation of animal owners.Keywords: Arsi-Bale highlands; Dourine; Ethiopia; Farmers’ perceptio

International Kinship Care Arrangement: Ethiopian Children Applying for Australian Orphan Relative Visa

The study is about international kinship care arrangements in Ethiopia, focusing on Ethiopian children who applied for an Australian Orphan Relative Visa. A qualitative case study research method was used. Study participants were nine children between the ages of 13-17 years and nine parents/guardians of those children. Other participants were five experts from the Ministry of Women, Children and Youth Affairs, and Federal First Instance Court. In-depth interviews were conducted using semi-structured interview guides. Additional data were also derived from observations and document reviews. Thematic data analysis was used. Data from all sources were triangulated and categorized under the themes that emerged from the data. This study identified two categories of children:  those who cannot get proper care either due to the loss of parents or due to incapacity of parents to take care of them, and those children who use international kinship arrangement as a mechanism to access a better life in Australia. Children expressed their expectations to get a better education, employment, material benefits, and living conditions after placement abroad. They also expressed concerns about how well relatives abroad will treat them. The findings further revealed that the Ministry of Women, Children, and Youth Affairs was not appropriately documenting pre-placement and post-placement information. Since international kinship care is different from international adoption in its nature, there was a lack of clarity on the legal protection that should be given to children, which puts them in a precarious socio-legal situation. This study can be used as a starting point to understand and consider international kinship care arrangements as one important alternative child care option.&nbsp

Ectoparasites of local scavenging chickens of central Ethiopia

Study on identification of ectoparasites of local chickens was conducted from October 2000 to April 2001, on 190 chickens raised under traditional management system in central Ethiopia, namely Jeldu, Sebeta and Awash Melka Kontire. The study indicated that 178 (93.7%) of the examined chickens were infected by diverse species of ectoparasites. Parasitic examination revealed the presence of fourteen species of ectoparasites (fleas, lice, mites and ticks). The prevalence of ectoparasite infection accounted 84.4%, 98.4% and 100% in the highland, midland and lowland sites, respectively. Statistical analysis of the results revealed a significant difference (

A Review on Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) and its Potential towards Tsetse Eradication in Ethiopia

Tsetse transmitted trypanosomosis constitute the greatest single constraint to livestock and crop production in sub-Saharan Africa. There were a number of attempts for the past few decades in order to control tsetse and trypanosomosis in the continent. Control strategies based on chemical approaches targeting on the parasite and vector were extensively applied but in many cases control has not been sustainable in the long term. This might be due to the fact that insecticide resistance, re-invasion, environmental damage and poor control program implementation were the attributing factors. Thus, an alternative approach namely sterile insect technique (SIT) was developed and has been widely used in the control of tsetse flies as well as other agricultural pests. SIT involves production of target tsetse species in mass-rearing facilities, sterilization of the male and the release in sustained numbers in the natural habitat large enough to outnumber the wild male tsetse flies. It is species-specific and has no effect on other ‘non-target’ species. The SIT project in Ethiopia was initiated and designed in 1997 in the southern rift valley area with the collection and evaluation of entomological, veterinary, environmental and socio-economic baseline data. Consequently, the project confirmed the presence of only one species of tsetse fly, i.e. Glossina pallidipes Austen. The ultimate objective of the project is to create a tsetse-free zone in a 25, 000 square kilometer area suitable for agricultural development. In the long term, the project aims to develop adequate national capacity for applying the concept of Area-Wide Integrated Pest management (AW-IPM) with a SIT component to the other parts of the country affected by the tsetse and trypanosomosis problem. Mass production of tsetse flies should be achieved in order to meet the demands for the regular release of sterile males. Currently, there is a coordinated effort to produce adequate amount of Glossina pallidipes Austen to implement the actual SIT in the southern rift valley areas of Ethiopia. It is expected that once tsetse eradication is achieved in the southern rift valley, the area-wide strategy would eventually be expanded to all other tsetse-infested regions in the country, bringing enormous benefits to agricultural development in Ethiopia. Keywords: Ethiopia, Eradication, SIT, Tsetse flie

The Dynamics of Trypanosomosis in and around Intensive Suppression Area in Southern TseTse Eradication Project Site, Ethiopia

This study was carried out in and around intensive suppression area of the Southern Tsetse Eradication Project in Gamo Goffa Zone, Southern Nations, Nationalities and people`s Region of Ethiopia. Assessment of the dynamics of the disease trypanosomosis was done by epidemiological surveys between December-Jan, 2008 (dry season) and April-May, 2009 (wet season). For epidemiological study bovine blood samples were collected from 700 animals and parasitological examination was carried out by dark ground/phase contrast buffy coat technique. Two species of trypanosomes namely Trypanosomacongolense and Trypanosomavivax were identified. The proportions of them were 5.5% and 3.5% in areas of intensive suppression during the dry and wet seasons, and 2.7% and 14% in regular suppression area and uncontrolled area respectively. There was no significant (p>0.05) differences in means of PCV values during the dry and wet seasons in the intensive suppression areas. However, there was significant (

Enzymatic and fecundity evaluation of Fasciola hepatica exposed to different doses of γ- irradiation in Ethiopian sheep

The upshot of γ-irradiated Fasciola hepatica infection on the activity of plasma glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH) and γ-glutamyl  transpeptidase (GGT) was evaluated in 36 sheep infected with a single dose of 30, 60, 120, and 240 grays and those kept as negative and positive control over 17 weeks. During this period, serum and faecal samples, as well as body weight gains, were taken at weekly intervals. Furthermore, the effects of the irradiation dose (500) for oral vaccination and on the recovery of adult flukes were assessed following primary infection. Eggs were first detected in the faeces of infected sheep on week 8 post-infection. The parasite viability was severely  affected by doses of γ-irradiation of 120 Gy or 240 Gy. In the aforementioned doses, relatively low numbers of mature flukes of about 60 (17.1%) and 38 (10.8%) were recovered than the control group, respectively. The sensitized lambs also showed less hepatic damage  compared with the controls as indicated by lower levels of the serum enzyme glutamate dehydrogenase and γ- glutamyl transferase  significant body weight loss was observed between weeks 6 and 8 post-infection followed by a steady increase of the mean weight of  infected animals across time. In conclusion, vaccination of sheep with γ irradiated metacercariae of F. hepatica appeared to affect the number and development of the fluke population resulting in reduced hepatic damage during migration, reduced fecundity after patency, as measured by worm and egg counts, levels of serum glutamate dehydrogenase and γ- glutamyl transferase

Histopathological lesions in reproductive organs, distal spinal cord and peripheral nerves of horses naturally infected with Trypanosoma equiperdum

Background: Dourine, a venereal transmitted trypanosomosis caused by Trypanosoma equiperdum, has different clinical signs related to the reproductive and nervous system. Pathologic tissue changes associated with the disease are poorly described. The present study describes the histopathological lesions in naturally T. equiperdum-infected horses in the chronical stage of dourine. Results: Four chronically dourine diseased horses underwent a post-mortem examination. They were Woo test negative, but CATT/T. evansi positive, had a low packed cell volume (PCV) and exhibited obvious clinical signs of dourine. Post-mortem examination did not reveal gross lesions in the organs assumed to be responsible for the symptomatology. On histopathology, genital organs were affected, with mononuclear cell infiltration and erosions and degeneration of seminiferous tubules and perivascular lymphoplasmacytic cuffing in the uterus. In the nervous system, mononuclear cell infiltration was located in peripheral nerves, ganglia and in the spinal cord, leading to axonal degeneration. Real-time PCR using ITS primer revealed the presence of trypanosomes in these organs and conventional PCRs using maxicircle and RoTat1.2 primers further confirmed the involvement of T. equiperdum since the DNAs from the vagina, testicle, distal spinal cord, sciatic and obturator nerves found to be positive for maxicircle and negative for RoTat 1.2. Conclusions: The histopathological lesions in the spinal cord and peripheral nerves explain the incoordination of the hind legs in T. equiperdum-infected horses, whilst its presence in the genital tract exemplifies the venereal transmission

Trypanocidal drug utilization practices in tsetse suppression and non-suppression areas of South Omo Zone, Southwestern Ethiopia

Trypanosomosis control in Ethiopia is largely rely on use of available trypanocidal drugs although there are other options such as vector control and  use of trypanotolerant hosts. A cross-sectional survey aimed at assessing the knowledge, attitude and practices of trypanocidal drug utilization  and constraints of trypanosome infection conducted in tsetse suppression and non-suppression areas of South Omo Zone, Ethiopia. The questionnaire based survey was conducted from November 2018 to May 2019. Descriptive statistics was used to summarize the field data obtained from 184 cattle owners. Sixty (60) of the cattle owners were from suppression area and 124 from tsetse non-suppression area. Accordingly, draft oxen and milking cows respectively from tsetse suppression and non-suppression areas were classes of animals which were given priority in trypanocidal drug treatment. About 79.03% and 81.7% of cattle owners respectively from tsetse suppression and non-suppression areas witnessedthat they treat their sick animals by themselves; indicating that veterinarians and other animal health experts have very little role in medication of sick animals. Diminazine aceturate (DA) was the main trypanocidal drug preferred by cattle owners in tsetse suppression area while both DA and Isometamidium chloride (ISM) were used in non-suppression areas. About 83.1% of the respondents from tsetse suppression areas and 86.7% from non-suppression area reported treatment failures following the use of trypanocidal drugs. Moreover, about 79.61% and 86.53% of respondents respectively from tsetse suppression and non-suppression areas observed that drugs obtained from private drug stores were less effective compared to drugs obtained from governmental veterinary clinics. Furthermore, the respondents disclosed that DA was the most horrible  trypanocidal drug in showing treatment failures despite high preference by cattle owners. It was also noted that treatment frequency was higherin tsetse suppression areas than non-suppression areas regardless of vector suppression campaign. In conclusion, higher dependency of cattle  owners on trypanocidal drugs, limited trypanocidal drug availability in the veterinary pharmaceutical market, frequent trypanocidal drug usage and injection by unskilled herdsmen and owners report on trypanocidal drug treatment failures may point out the issue of trypanocidal drug resistance in the area. Therefore, awareness creation to livestock owners on the effect of misuse of trypanocidal drugs and safe trypanocidal drug usage policy should be put into effect to uphold the effectiveness of currently available trypanocidal drugs. Keywords: Trypanosomosis; Trypanocidal Drugs; Tsetse suppression; South Omo Zone; Ethiopi

Equine Trypanosomosis in Ethiopia: Epidemiology, Characterization and Control

status: publishe

Experimental study on alternations in growth performance and serum biochemical analytes in broiler chicks exposed to varying level of calcium in standard poultry ration in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

The current experimental study was conducted to evaluate the growth performance responses and serum biochemical alteration in broiler chicks exposed to different dietary calcium level in standard poultry ration in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) was employed from January to June 2015 for a period of six weeks on a total of 80 day-old Cobb 500 broiler chicks breed (40 females and 40 males) which were randomly allocated into four equal treatment groups each compromising 20 broiler chicks. Accordingly, the four treatment groups designated as A (kept as control), B, C and D received dietary calcium levels 8.5 g Ca/Kg, 17 g Ca/Kg, 25.5 g Ca/Kg and 36.5 g Ca/Kg, respectively, Similarly, each treatment group was blocked on the basis of sex (10 males and 10 females). Serum samples from all treatment groups were obtained and subjected to biochemical analysis using spectrophotometer auto analyzer. Growth performance responses namely feed intake, feed conversion ratio, live body weight gain and carcass yield were evaluated. Results of the present experiment revealed that treatment groups (C and D) to have statistically significant increase (P<0.05) in the mean serum level of uric acid and calcium as compared to control group and group B; however serum level of phosphorus showed statistically significant decrease (P<0.05). Feed intake, live body weight gain, feed conversion ratio and carcass yield were statistically lower in the treatment groups (C and D) in comparison with control group (A) and treatment group (B). Treatment group (B) favored breast and drumstick yields which constituted the major retail value of dressed chickens but showed relatively lower serum biochemical alteration. From the above results, it was concurred that neither higher and nor lower calcium is appropriate for use as feed ingredient in broiler chickens’ diets.Keywords: Broiler Chicks, Dietary Calcium, Growth Performance, Serum Biochemica