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

Quantification of Methane Emissions from Indoor-Fed Fogera Dairy Cows Using Laser Methane Detector

Portable laser methane detectors (LMDs) may be an economical means of estimating CH4 emissions from ruminants. Here, we validated an LMD-based approach and then used that approach to evaluate CH4 emissions from indigenous dairy cows in a dryland area of Ethiopia. First, we validated our LMD-based approach in Simmental crossbred beef cattle (n = 2) housed in respiration chambers and fed either a high- or low-concentrate diet. We found that the exhaled air CH4 concentrations measured by LMD were linearly correlated with the CH4 emissions determined by infrared-absorption-based gas analyzer (r2 = 0.55). On the basis of these findings, we constructed an estimation equation to determine CH4 emissions (y, mg min−1) from LMD CH4 concentrations (x, ppm m) as y = 0.4259x + 38.61. Next, we used our validated LMD approach to examine CH4 emissions in Fogera dairy cows grazed for 8 h d−1 (GG, n = 4), fed indoors on natural-grassland hay (CG1, n = 4), or fed indoors on Napier-grass (Pennisetum purpureum) hay (CG2, n = 4). All the cows were supplemented with concentrate feed. Daily CH4 emissions did not differ among the three groups; however, a numerically greater milk yield was obtained from the CG2 cows than from the GG cows, suggesting that Napier-grass hay might be better than natural-grassland hay for indoor feeding. The CG1 cows had higher CH4 emissions per feed intake than the other groups, without significant increases in milk yield and body-weight gain, suggesting that natural-grassland hay cannot be recommended for indoor-fed cows. These findings demonstrate the potential of using LMDs to rapidly and economically evaluate feeding regimens for dairy cows in areas under financial constraint, while taking CH4 emissions into consideration

Genetic parameter estimates for growth and reproductive trait of sheep for genetic improvement and designing breeding program in Ethiopia: A review

Small ruminants in general and sheep in particular are important investments in the highlands of Ethiopia. Genetic and environmental improvements offer an opportunity to increase production from existing animal resources. Development of effective genetic evaluation and improvement programs requires knowledge of the genetic parameters (genetic variance of each trait and covariance among traits) for economically important production traits. Direct heritability estimates for birth weight of Afar sheep (0.13 to 0.38) and BHS (0.20 to 0.58) using univariate analysis; for Horro sheep (0.18 - 0.32) and Menz sheep (0.46) by fitting a multi-trait individual animal model. The weaning weight direct heritability estimates for sheep in Ethiopia, Afar sheep (0.11 - 0.37) and BHS (0.00 - 0.29), Horro sheep (0.10 - 0.26) and Menz sheep (0.48). Fertility, litter size and lamb survival are the components of the overall ewe reproduction traits. It appears that heritability estimates of these traits are rather low and reflect the generally small genetic variance for most reproductive traits. Moreover, litter size has a higher heritability (0.16 - 0.19) than the other components traits like fertility (0.10) and survival rate (0.07 - 0.09) for Awassi sheep breed. Genetic correlations among most pairs of traits were higher than the corresponding phenotypic correlations. Live weights measured at successive ages were highly correlated, ranging from 0.61 to 0.98 for Menz sheep. Genetic correlations were also high between pre-weaning daily gain and weaning weight for Afar and BHS sheep. Except for Blackhead Somali sheep breed which has high genetic correlation between birth weight and weaning weight, Horro, Menz and Afar sheep have high genetic correlation between post-weaning weight traits. This indicates that selection for one trait improves the other trait in those sheep breeds. In order to develop alternative improvement program for sheep breeds in Ethiopia, estimates of genetic parameters for economical growth and reproduction traits should be done by designing experiments since the information on most sheep breed is nonexistence

Typology and characteristics of indigenous goats and production systems in different agro-ecological zones of Tanzania

Tanzania has a goat population of about 24.8 million most of which belong to the Small East African breed distributed in almost all agro-ecological zones. The different goat populations and the production system in which they are raised are not well characterized depriving animal breeders useful information in designing and running improvement and conservation programs. Therefore, the study was conducted in all agro-ecological zones in Tanzania to characterize the indigenous goats and the production system in which they are raised. Data on animals were collected from 688 randomly selected adult female goats and for production system description; 220 households were interviewed. Analysis of variance and discriminant analysis were used on quantitative data, while frequency analysis was used on qualitative data. Income generation and meat production were the primary goat rearing objectives. More than 55% of respondents grazed their animals freely in communal lands where natural pasture was the chief feed resource. Mating was mainly uncontrolled with apron and castration being used by goat keepers as mating control methods. Common diseases were contagious caprine pleural pneumonia and helminthiasis. Feed shortage, prevalence of diseases, and water scarcity were the major goat production constraints. There were morphological variations between and within these goat populations, and based on quantitative data, the goats were categorized into two groups. High twinning was observed in Ujiji and Lindi goats and low for Sukuma. The dominant coat color was plain white in Pare, Gogo, Maasai, and Tanga. Other coat color patterns were mixed black and white for Sukuma, reddish-brown for Lindi, black and reddish-brown for Ujiji, and white and reddish-brown for Pwani and Maasai. High within population variation is observed which is important as it can be used as a basis for genetic improvement through selection

Polymorphism analysis of kisspeptin (KISS1) gene and its association with litter size in Ethiopian indigenous goat populations

Polymorphism analysis of the Kisspeptin (KISS1) gene and its association with litter size were conducted in two (Gondar and Woyto Guji) Ethiopian indigenous goat populations. Three new pairs of primers were designed for touchdown PCR condition. A total of 173 and 242 Sanger sequences were employed for further analysis of exon1 (1210 bp) and exon2 (325 bp) regions of the KISS1 gene, respectively. In addition, the identified polymorphic sites were associated with litter size of the animals included in the study. General linear model was carried out for the association analysis. The study revealed that five complete substitutions and 15 polymorphic sites were detected in both exon regions with 2:1 transition and transversion ratio. Most of the polymorphic sites were observed in more than 1% of the sequences qualifying the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) definition. The overall average codon bias index was 0.301 with 64.09 and 62.47% GC contents in exon1 and exon2, respectively. The overall average HE was 0.18863±0.21 for exon1 and 0.03155±0.01. Only four loci, which constitute 10 genotypes, from the polymorphic sites showed significant contribution of litter size of the goat populations studied. Heterozygous genotypes (TC and GC at g.950T>C and g.3416G>C, respectively) had performed highest estimates of litter size in three of the loci which contributed for litter size. However, the homozygous genotype observed at locus g.3811C>T showed highest contribution for fecundity trait. 18 to 31% performance differences of litter size were observed due to the influence of the genotypes. In conclusion, the SNP detected in those target regions of the gene confirm the contribution of the KISS1 gene for fecundity trait suggesting importance of the gene for marker assisted selection in goat breeding programs

Half-time evaluation of a new 4-year Ph.D. program in nursing and midwifery at the University of Gondar, Ethiopia

A new four-year Ph.D. programme in nursing and midwifery, the first of its kind in Ethiopia, was started in 2018/2019 at the University of Gondar when eight doctoral students in nursing and midwifery entered the program. We who have been involved see this as an appropriate time to evaluate what has been accomplished to date and to look toward future possibilities. Our aim in carrying out such an evaluation and presenting our findings is in part to determine if similar programs might be developed in other similar settings and in part to learn what modifications to the present program might be considered. The key elements of a questionnaire survey with closed and open response alternatives were based on the content, structure and learning outcomes of the home university Ph.D. programme as described in the curriculum. The questionnaire responses captured changes that would be needed to maintain a fully satisfactory programme that blends onsite instruction and online access to faculty resulting in a twenty-first century blended Ph.D. programme. Improved dialogue between the home university faculty and the external supervisors is needed. The programme can provide a career pathway that midwifery and nursing educators can follow in their own country rather than having to leave to study in another country. The findings provide insight into the feasibility of extending similar Ph.D. programmes to other parts of East Africa and with the SDG 5 in mind with an increased focus on women leadership. The justification for this initiative is to meet the need for more nursing and midwifery faculty who can provide quality midwifery and nursing education in East African countries. Retention of these professionals will help to deal with the shortage of healthcare personnel and will provide better care for the general population. © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group