Prevalence and risk factors of ectoparasites in small ruminants in and around Haramaya University, eastern Oromia Region, Ethiopia

Infestation by external parasites causes mortality, decreased productivity and financial loss in the animal exports. A cross sectional study was conducted from November, 2016 to April, 2017 in and around Haramaya University, Eastern Oromia region, Ethiopia to determine the prevalence, host risk factors and identify ectoparasites on small ruminants. Accordingly, a total of 384 small ruminants (190 sheep, and 194 goats) were randomly selected and examined for the presence of ectoparasites. Then, samples of ectoparasites were collected manually and put in clean universal bottles containing 70% ethanol. The samples were transported to the Haramaya University Veterinary Parasitology laboratory and identified to genus/species level under stereomicroscope. The overall prevalence of ectoparasites was 98% (sheep 55.8% and goats 42.2%), and the major identified ectoparasites were ticks 80 (20.8%), lice 78 (20.3%) and fleas 70 (7.8%). The genus/species of the identified ectoparasites were lice (Damalina ovis, 12.8% and Linognathus stenopsis, 7.5%), fleas (Ctenocephalus, 7.8), ticks (Ambyloma variegatum, 6.8%, Boophilus decoloratus, 9.4%, Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi, 2.9% and Hyalomma truncatum, 1.8%). Host risk factors such as sex, species, breed, body condition score and physiological status (pregnancy) were significantly associated (p<0.05) with the overall prevalence of ectoparasites in small ruminants. According to this study, there was high prevalence of ectoparasites in small ruminants of the study area. Therefore, to minimize this high prevalence of ectoparasites in small ruminants and their impacts, appropriate and strategic control measures are paramount important.Keywords: Ectoparasites; Haramaya University; Prevalence; Risk factors; Small Ruminant

Management practices and production constraints of central highland goats in Emba Alaje District, Southern Zone, Tigray, Ethiopia

A cross-sectional study was conducted from March to June 2016 on randomly selected 250 households who reared goats in Emba Alaje District to assess management practices of central highland goats and their major constraints. A pretested and semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect the required data. Out of the total respondents, 213 (85.2%) were male and 38% of them had a basic education. Almost all 249 (99.6%) of the respondents practiced a mixed crop livestock production system, and majority of them (85.2%) reared goats for an immediate cash source. About 78.8% of the respondents had a separate farming area for their goats. Regarding the feeding management, majority of the respondents, 223 (89.2%) used a communal grazing/browsing area. Provision of supplementary feeds for goats was not common, and the breeding system was almost uncontrolled. Majority of the respondents 154, (61.65%) did not select buck for breeding, and 88 (35.2%) of them did not know the source of the bucks that mated their goats. In the present study, 100% of the respondents complained that, there were diseases that affected the health and production of their goats, of which 33.6% of the respondents complained, pasteurellosis as one of the major goats’ diseases in the study area. Feed shortage (36%) and diseases (33.6%) were among the major constraints raised by the respondents. Therefore, solving the above constraints is of paramount importance to improve the goat production potential and livelihood of the farmers in the study area.Keywords: Central highland goats; Constraints; Emba Alaje; Management; Tigra

Assessment of beef cattle fattening practices and its challenges in and around Mekelle, Tigray, Ethiopia

A cross sectional study was conducted from April to June, 2016 with the objective of assessing the beef cattle fattening practices and its challenges in and around Mekelle. Accordingly, data was collected from all (N=108) beef cattle fatteners in the study area, by face-to-face interview using a pretested structured and semi-structured questionnaires. Moreover, participatory group focused discussion and personal observation were among the tools used to collect relevant data for this study. Based on the results of the current study, all of the interviewed farmers use male animals for fattening purpose. The farmers use different criteria to select the best animals to be fattened, and age, body size and body condition status of the animals are among the major ones. Regarding the housing condition of the animals to be fattened, 61.1% of the fattening houses had complete roof and side walls to protect the animals from predators and being exposed to rain and sun light. On the other hand, 38.9% of the fattening houses were constructed without roof, but fenced with different locally available fencing materials, such as wood, thorny plants and stones. Almost all (97.2%) of the fattening houses’ floors were soil type without drainage system. The beef cattle fattening in the study area is challenged by different constraints, such as shortage of feed (100%), shortage of land (78.7%), market problem (75.9%), and diseases (58.3%). Therefore, it is very important to solve these constraints to enhance production and productivity of the beef cattle, and thereby improve the livelihood of the farmers in the study area.Keywords: Beef cattle; Challenges; Fattening; Mekell

Productive and reproductive performance and reproductive health problems of Begait breed cows under farmers’ management in and around Seharti Samre, South East zone of Tigray regional state, Ethiopia

A survey was carried out on productive and reproductive performance and reproductive health problems of Begait cows under farmers’ management in and around Seharti Samre. Accordingly, 93 farmers were selected randomly for interview, and 123 Begait breed cows at parity one and two were selected to assess productive and reproductive performance as well as reproductive health problems. Data were obtained from the farmers by using pre-tested, structured questionnaire. Majority (96.8%) of the farmers were males with farming experience from 1-10 years (58.1%) All (100%) of the farmers were engaged in mixed crop-livestock production, and crop production was found to be the main source of income for 92.5% of them. The reproductive performances were: age at first service (27.12 ± 0.387 months), age at first calving (36.27 ± 0.424 months), number of services per conception (1.07 ± 0.24), calving interval (18.54 ± 0.569 months) and days open (9.97 ± 0.54 months). The productive performances were: lactation milk yield (605.85 ± 20.793 liters) and lactation length (6.96 ± 0.126 months). The reproductive health problems were: calf mortality (92.5%), anestrus (82.8%), repeat breeding (74.2%), uterine prolapse (62.4%), dystocia (57%), abortion (55.9%) and retained placenta (44.1%).Keywords: Begait cows; Productive performance; Reproductive performance; Reproductive Health problems; Seharti Samr

A survey on occurrence of internal and external fish parasites and causes of fish population reduction in Lake Hashenge, Tigray, Ethiopia

A cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2015 to June 2016 to determine the occurrence of internal and external parasites in wild fish population of Lake Hashenge and identify the causes of the trends in reduction of fish population. A total of 125 randomly selected fish samples comprising 122 (97.6%) Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and 3(2.4%) T. zilli were examined for internal helminthes and external parasites. Overall, 37.6% (47/125) of fish were infested by internal parasites (adults or eggs/larva) while none of them were infested with external parasites. The internal parasites recovered were Clinostomum, Acanthocephalues and Capillaria accounting for 15.2%, 11.2%, and 7.2% of the total infection respectively, while 4% had mixed infection. Moreover, the distribution of parasitic genera were found to be significantly different (p<0.05) with respect to sex, weight, and lengths of the sampled fish, in that females (n=48, 24.8%), fish with body weight 500-1000g (n=89, 30.4%), and length 20-40cm (n=68, 22.4%) were found to be more infected. Most of the respondents (92%) indicated a great reduction in the water and the fish population of the lack from its previous state. All of the respondents have stated that residents of the area wash their clothes in the Lake using synthetic and/or natural detergents and 86% of the respondents believed that Lake Hashenge receives flooding water from nearby uphills and the people use the water from the Lake for small scale irrigation purposes. These findings demand a future focus and stretch of intervention programs for alleviation of the problems facing the Lake before its exhaustion.Keywords: Fish; Lake Hashenge; Parasites; Prevalence; Population reductio

Isolation and Antimicrobial Sensitivity Testing of Escherichia coli from Fish Meat Retailing Shops of Mekelle City, Ethiopia

The present study was conducted for the period of six months, September, 2016 to February, 2017 so as to isolate and identify Escherichia (E.coli) from fresh fish samples collected from four different retailing shops in Mekelle city and determine the antibiotic resistance pattern of isolated bacteria. Isolation and identification of E.coli and antibiotic sensitivity test were performed following the standard microbiological techniques. The antibiotic resistance patterns of the E.coli isolates were tested against 6 different antibiotics, namely Ampicillin, Amoxicillin, Ciprofloxacin, Norfloxacin, Gentamicin and Streptomycin. Accordingly, out of the total 96 fish samples collected and analyzed, 9(9.4%) were positive for E.coli following the primary and secondary biochemical test results. Out of the four fish meat retailing shops, the highest and statistically significant prevalence (P=0.001) of E.coli was recorded in shop III as 5(20.8%) followed by shop II as 4(16.7%).Furthermore, results of the antimicrobial sensitivity test have shown that all of the isolates were completely significantly (P=0.001) resistant to two antibiotics (Ampicillin and Amoxicillin) and 100% significantly susceptible (P=0.001) to three of the antibiotics (Ciprofloxacin, Norfloxacin, and Gentamicin). Whereas, out of the 9 isolates, 2 isolates (22.2%) were intermediate and 7 isolates (77.8%) were susceptible to Streptomycin. Hence, it can be concluded that fishes from Mekelle shops do contain antimicrobial resistant pathogenic E.coli where the proportion of these isolates significantly (P<0.001) varies from shop to shop. In spite of the lesser practice of their utilization, Ciprofloxacin, Norfloxacin, and Gentamicin were found to be the best antimicrobials to treat E.coli associated infections in the study area. However, it is suggested that post-harvest hygienic management practices are to be practiced along the fish production-marketing chain.Antibiotic sensitivity test, Escherichia coli, Fish, Mekelle, Retailing shops

Assessment of marketing systems, customer preference and health management of chickens in free range and intensive poultry production systems in Minjar Shenkora District, Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia

A cross sectional study was conducted from November 2016 to April 2017 in Minjar Shenkora district, Amhara region, to assess marketing, customer preference and health management of chickens kept in intensive and in free production systems. Eight out of twenty nine Kebeles were purposively selected based on their poultry production potential and level if intensification. Data was collected from randomly selected 250 poultry producers by interview using structured and semi-structured questionnaire survey, group focused discussion and observation. The production systems were, intensive (36%) and free range (64%), and 66.6% of the producers were rearing chickens for income generation. Chickens in the present study were, cross breed (48.4%), and local breed (51.6%). This study indicated that, 93.6% of the poultry producers complained that, Newcastle Castle Disease (24%), Fowl pox (40%), Gumboro (20%), Coccidiosis (8) and others (8%) as the major poultry diseases in the study area. It was revealed that, 94.4% of the poultry producers have lack of market for their products due to fasting periods and customers preference. Age, sex, color, breed and other traits of the chickens were identified as the major customers’ selection criteria. Therefore, designing disease control strategies, creating market linkage and rearing of chickens with desirable traits is very important to develop the poultry sector and improve the livelihood of the poultry producers in the study district.Keywords: Chickens; Customer preference; Free range; Intensive; Marketing; Minjar Shenkora distric