Local Perceptions on the Status, Values and Conservation and Ethnobotanical Implications of Medicinal and Multipurpose Plants in and Around Selected Church Forests in Central Ethiopia

Societies have varied attitude and perception on the forest resources nearby them. Ethnobotanical knowledge should be integrated with biophysical studies in order to be used for managing and conserving forests. The objectives of the study were to assess the existing knowledge about the uses of plant species and to examine the plant species. Three sites were selected around central Ethiopia encompassing three church forests. Focus group discussion, questionnaire-based social survey and vegetation inventory were undertaken. The focus group discussants were selected from traditional healers, elders of the society, development agents, and people who are knowledgeable about the vegetation of the areas. Voucher specimens were collected for those species difficult to identify . The data analysis was done by descriptive statistics using Excel 2010 and SPSS v20. The results indicated agricultural expansion, charcoal making and fuel wood as the major causes of deforestation in Site 1, Site 2 and Site 3 respectively. Religious preaching was stated by group discussants as the most effective solution to reverse the degradation and to protect the church forests. The plant species have varied uses as traditional medicine, food, construction wood, household utensils, and firewood but higher percent of the mentioned species were used either for human or livestock medicine. Sørensen similarity index indicated Site 1 and Site 2 have 12.5%, Site 1 and Site 3 have 10.9% and Site 2 and Site 3 have 43.5% similarities. Documenting the wealth of indigenous knowledge and in situ conservation of the plant species are key recommendations

Physico-chemical Characteristics of the Soils in Three Church Forest of Central Ethiopia

Physical and chemical properties of soils interact each other either positively or negatively depending on the condition. Vegetation has influence on the soil physico-chemical characteristics. Land use land cover changes are the main factors in the process of land resource degradation. The objectives of this study were to define the soil texture, bulk density and extent of organic carbon in church forests and adjacent croplands and to compare the values. Transect lines of 100 meter apart and plots of 20 m × 20 m were established to collect soil samples in the church forests and individual farm plots. The distance between plots was 100 m. Horizon based soil sampling was undertaken. Soil samples were collected on a diagonal position from 2 edges and the center from 2 soil horizons (H1 and H2) for soil texture and soil organic carbon (SOC) analysis. For bulk density (BD) soil core samplers were used. The data was analyzed using one way ANOVA in SPSS v20. Mean separation was undertaken by least significance difference. The results revealed the %clay content was significantly higher in croplands than church forests and the %sand was higher in church forests than croplands at (p<0.05). The SOC was significantly higher in H1 than H2 and in church forests than croplands at (p<0.05). The better soil characteristics were obtained in church forests than in croplands. Hence, it is recommended to conserve the natural forests as in the church forests to maintain better property of the soil through enhancing soil organic matter, soil organic carbon and by decreasing soil bulk density

Molluscicidal effects of endod (Phytolacca dodecandra) on fasciola transmitting snails

A study was conducted to investigate the molluscicidal effects of crude water suspension of unripe green Endod (Phytolacca dodecandra) berries (Type 44) on different developmental stages of Lymnaea natalensis and Lymnaea truncatula. Concentration of 20 ppm for exposure period of 24 hours induced 100 % mortality in young L. natalensis and L. truncatula snails, while higher concentration was required for mature snails of both species. The LC90 on L. natalensis with shell height of 5-9.8 mm., 10–2.9 mm. and 13–18.5 mm. was 19.8, 21.1, 22.8 ppm, respectively. With regards to L. truncatula the LC90 for snails with a shell height of 3.4-5.4 mm and 5.7–8.2 mm was 19.5 and 21 ppm, respectively. Study on time-concentration relationship revealed that exposing snails for one hour required a concentration of 48.9 and 72.5 ppm in young (6–12.4 mm.) and adult (12.5–18.5 mm.) L. natalensis to cause 90% mortality, respectively. In the case of L. truncatula snails (4.5–7.4 mm) 54.5 ppm was needed to produce 90 % mortality. However, both snail species were killed at about a concentration of 20 ppm between 6 and 24 hours of exposure times. Key words/phrases: Endod, fascioliasis, Lymnaea natalensis, Lymnaea truncatula, Molluscicide SINET: Ethiopian Journal of Science Vol.25(2) 2002: 275-28

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&nbsp; 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&nbsp; 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&nbsp; compared with the controls as indicated by lower levels of the serum enzyme glutamate dehydrogenase and γ- glutamyl transferase&nbsp; significant body weight loss was observed between weeks 6 and 8 post-infection followed by a steady increase of the mean weight of&nbsp; 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

Investigation on public knowledge, attitude and practices related to pet management and zoonotic canine diseases in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Many infectious diseases are transmitted from animals to human and the other way. Despite this there is limited information about public knowledge on pet husbandry and diseases control practices in Addis Ababa. The objectives of this study are to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices towards pet husbandry, contact-related attitude and zoonotic diseases among dog-owning households in Addis Ababa. A cross-sectional questionnaire based study was conducted to assessthe public’s perception. A total of 252 dog-owning households from four sub-citiesof Addis Ababa were interviewed using structured questionnaire. Of the total 252respondents, majority of them (70.2%) did not take their dog to veterinary serviceon regular basis (at least once a year). Over half of the respondents (59.1%) fed rawmeat to their dogs and 79.3% of the owners obtained the meat from local unlicensedmarkets. The majority of the respondents (87%) in the current study believed therisk of acquiring zoonotic diseases from dogs. However, most of them (95.4%) knewonly rabies and only 4.6% of them knew parasitic diseases in addition to rabies.Only 61.9% of the respondents reported having ever received information aboutpet-associated diseases or precautions to reduce the risk of these diseases. Out ofthose who received information, 48% of them obtained from their friends and/orrelatives. Only 9% and 9.6% of them received information from veterinarians andhealth workers, respectively. The result suggests a need for awareness creation onproper pet management and zoonotic diseases prevention practices for pet-owninghouseholds, with concerted efforts by veterinary, human and public health  professionals.Keywords: Attitude, Canine zoonosis, Knowledge, Practice

Prevalencija tripanosomoze i njezinih prijenosnika u deva u pokrajini Fentale u Jugoistočnoj Šoi u Etiopiji

A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of camel trypanosomosis and assess the distribution and dynamics of the vectors responsible for transmission of the disease in five localities of Fentale district from September 2008 to January 2009. Parasitological examination was conducted using the microhaematocrit centrifugation technique (MHCT) and examination of Giemsa stained blood smears. The only species of trypanosome identified was Trypanosoma evansi with a prevalence of 4.7% by MHCT and 4.4% by blood smear. The prevalence was higher in male (6.8%) than female (4%) camels. With regard to age, calves (less than 2 years of age) were negative; the prevalence is high (7.7%) in young camels (between 3-4 years of age) and 4% in adult camels (older than 4 years of age). However, the difference in prevalence between sex and age groups was not statistically significant (P>0.05). The prevalence using blood smears was found to be different between different localities; the highest being 7.8% for Kobo and the lowest 2% for Haro kersa. The mean packed cell volume (PCV) of Trypanosoma evansi positive camels (22.43%) was significantly lower than that of negative camels (28.13%) (P0,05). Prevalencija na temelju pretrage krvnih razmazaka bila je različita u životinja iz različitih područja. Najveća prevalencija dokazana je u životinja na području Kobo (7,8%), dok je najmanja (2%) bila na području Haro Kersa. Srednja vrijednost hematokrita u invadiranih deva bila je statistički značajno manja (22,43%) u usporedbi s neinvadiranim devama (28,13%) (P<0,05). Više od 99% ulovljenih kukaca pripadalo je muhama roda Stomoxys. Preostali su kukci pripadali rodovima Tabanus, Chrysops i Lyperosia. Najveći broj kukaca bio je ulovljen tijekom rujna, a najmanji tijekom prosinca. Razumljivo je da je prevalencija nametnika Trypanosoma evansi bila viša tijekom kišnih razdoblja. Autori smatraju da se dobiveni nalazi ne mogu odnositi na sva područja kao i sva godišnja doba pa zato predlažu da se nastave istraživanja, koja će obuhvatiti različita razdoblja te ulogu različitih prijenosnika bolesti

Immunogenicity and protective efficacy of irradiated Salmonella Gallinarum against homologous challenge infection in Bovans brown chickens

Fowl typhoid is a systemic poultry disease caused by Salmonella Gallinarum (SG). It is responsible for significant economic loss, due to its severe&nbsp; morbidity and mortality. An irradiated vaccine is one of the possible alternatives to prevent and control fowl typhoid. This study aimed to evaluate the safety, immunogenicity, and protective efficacy of irradiated SG using a randomized control trial in chicken. A field strain of SG was exposed to different doses of gamma irradiation to determine its effect on the viability of SG. Safety and immunogenicity were assessed by administering irradiated SG orally to 3 groups (5 each) of 5 weeks old Bovans brown chickens at 2400, 2500, and 2600 gray (Gy). The protective efficacy of 108colony forming units (CFU) of SG irradiated at 2400 Gy administered orally and subcutaneously was then evaluated using homologous challenge infection and compared with SG 9R commercial vaccine using 40, 5-week old Bovans brown chickens where the chickens were randomly assigned to 4 groups. Chickens in Group 1were exposed to 108 CFU of irradiated SG orally; Group 2 to the same dose subcutaneously; Group 3 to SG 9R strain commercial vaccine subcutaneously, Group 4 to phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) orally. Data related to survival, antibody response, and pathological lesions were recorded. Mann-Whitney U-test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Fisher’s exact tests were used to examine for statistical&nbsp; significance. Irradiation at 2600 Gy caused complete inactivation of SG whereas SG exposed to 2400 Gy showed better immunogenicity and was safe for chickens. Antibody response in a group of chickens vaccinated with irradiated SG administered subcutaneously (SC) was significantly higher than&nbsp; those vaccinated with the SG 9R vaccine on day 7 (p=0.003) and day 14 (p=0.002) post-immunization. Comparative evaluation of the protective efficacy based on the mortality rate of chickens after challenge showed that 2400 Gy irradiated SG vaccine administered SC and SG 9R vaccine-induced equal protection of 50% while the irradiated vaccine administered orally protected only 10% of chickens against homologous challenge infection. SG was not isolated from the liver, spleen, and feces of chickens that survived challenge infection until the end of the experiment. Irradiated SG administered SC is shown to be a promising vaccine against fowl typhoid. Further studies using a large sample size involving tuning of irradiation dose to improve immunogenicity and use of booster vaccination are recommended. Keywords: Chicken; Fowl typhoid; Gamma irradiation; Salmonella Gallinarum; Vaccin

Prevalence and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Profile of Staphylococcus aureus in Milk and Traditionally Processed Dairy Products in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Staphylococcus aureus is a contagious pathogen that can cause various diseases in both humans and animals. Antimicrobial-resistant S. aureus is becoming an extremely important global health problem. A cross-sectional study was conducted from December 2019 to May 2020 to assess the occurrence of S. aureus and its antimicrobial susceptibility profiles in milk and traditionally processed dairy products in selected subcities of Addis Ababa. A total of 255 dairy product samples (175 raw milk and 80 traditionally processed dairy products) were collected from farms and retail markets. Samples were cultured for S. aureus according to standard microbiology techniques, and the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method was used to assess antimicrobial susceptibility of isolates to a panel of 12 antimicrobials. Susceptibility to methicillin was determined based on the sensitivity of isolates to cefoxitin, and resistant isolates were investigated for the presence of mecA and mecC genes using PCR. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from 43 (24.6%) of milk, 7 (17.5%) of yogurt, and 2 (5%) of cottage cheese. A significantly higher rate of contamination with S. aureus was recorded among milk samples compared to yogurt and cottage cheese (p = 0.019). Out of 52 S. aureus isolates investigated for susceptibility to 12 antimicrobials, 49 (94.2%) of the isolates were resistant to ampicillin and 42 (80.8%) to amoxicillin+clavulanic acid. Twenty (38.5%) of the isolates were methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) based on susceptibility to cefoxitin. However, only one of these isolates (5%) was positive for mecA gene, and none of them were positive for the mecC gene. There was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in the rate of occurrence of MRSA among isolates from different sources. In conclusion, this study demonstrated a significant level of contamination of milk and dairy products with S. aureus and most isolates were multidrug resistant. The occurrence of MRSA in raw milk and dairy products signifies a serious public health threat as the practice of consuming raw dairy products in the study area is widespread. The lack of agreement between phenotypic and genotypic detection of MRSA suggests the need for further study to identify the genetic basis for the observed resistance phenotype

Comparative efficacy of major anthelmintic against naturally infected Fasciola species infection in local sheep at Debre-Birhan Agricultural Research Center, Ethiopia

This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of eight major anthelmintic against Fasciola species in naturally infected sheep. In a randomized trial, 90 sheep were divided into 8 treatment groups of 10 animals each and one untreated control group of ten sheep. Prior to treatment, the animals were examined for Fasciola eggs. After the examination, they were found positive. On day zero, each group was administered to one of the following eight anthelmintic; Albex 10 %, Expitol, Tribex 10 %, Fascinex (Triclabendazole), Zerofen 10%, Albendazole, Ridafluke, and Tetraclozan. Faecal samples from each animal were examined for Fasciola eggs on day zero and then on 7, 10, 14, 21 days and 10 weeks post treatment using the sedimentation technique. Necropsy examination was performed on selected animals for 21 days and 10 weeks of post treatment on selected animals. Ridafluke showed highest efficacy against fascioliasis with 99.6 mature and 94.3 of immature worm count reduction proportion for 21 days post treatment and 91.8 % of adult worm reduction 10 weeks after treatment followed by Tribex 10% solution that showed 96 % and 98.7 % mature and immature worm count reduction, respectively, and 83.6% after 10 weeks post treatments. On the contrary, Fascinex (Triclabendazole) treatment group yielded much lower efficacy with mean 98.3% of mature Fasciola worms being recovered after 10 weeks post treatments. On the other hand, the adult Fasciola worm recovery showed high resistance in all broad spectrums anthelmintic treatment groups where Expitol and Tetraclozan showed 64 % and 63.3 % reduction of adult worms. The findings of this study indicated that the treatment group of Ridafluke and Tribex 10% showed highest efficacy and is a primary drug of choice against Fasciolosis in sheep of the study area

Identification and Characterization of Campylobacter Species in Livestock, Humans, and Water in Livestock Owning Households of Peri-urban Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: A One Health Approach

Campylobacter is the most common cause of bacterial infectious diarrhea and acute gastroenteritis globally, and is recognized as a significant zoonotic pathogen. Antimicrobial resistance amongst Campylobacter isolates is a significant global concern. A cross-sectional study was conducted to identify and characterize Campylobacter species in humans, animals and water sources in livestock owning households of peri-urban Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; and to characterize antimicrobial resistance. A total of 519 fecal samples from humans (n = 99), livestock (n = 179), poultry (n = 69), and water (n = 172) were collected. Samples were cultured for viable Campylobacter spp. and multiplex PCR utilized for the identification and confirmation. Antimicrobial susceptibility of the isolates was assessed using the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. Campylobacter spp. was detected in 67/519 (13.0%) of the total tested samples, and the household level prevalence of Campylobacter was 42.4%. The prevalence of Campylobacter spp. was: humans (10.1%), cattle (18.5%), poultry (13.0%), sheep (13.3%), goats (7.1%), and water (10.5%). Campylobacter jejuni and C. fetus were the most frequently isolated species, followed by C. coli. The majority of isolates obtained from human samples had co-occurrence with isolates from cattle, poultry or water samples from the same household. The use of stored water, the practice of indoor and outdoor manure collecting, and animal species Campylobacter positivity were significantly associated with greater odds of human Campylobacter spp. positivity. All Campylobacter isolates from humans, poultry, sheep, goats and water, and 96.0% of isolates from cattle were resistant to at least one or more of the tested antimicrobials, with 95.5% of isolates resistant to three or more classes of antimicrobials. A One Health approach is recommended to further investigate Campylobacter species infections, and other zoonotic infectious diseases, in the livestock owning populations in Ethiopia, where there is close interaction between humans, animals and the environment