Evaluation of Soil Cations in Agricultural Soils of East Wollega Zone in South Western Ethiopia

No Abstract

Correlation of climate variability and malaria: A retrospective comparative study, Southwest Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Climatic variables can determine malaria transmission dynamics. To see the correlation between malaria occurrence and climatic variables, records of malaria episodes over eight years period were analyzed incorporating climatic variables around Gilgel-Gibe Hydroelectric Dam and control sites.METHODS: Records of 99,206 confirmed malaria episodes registered between 2003 and 2011 were analyzed along with local meteorological data of the same duration. Data were analyzed with SPSS statistical software version 20 for Windows. Spearman correlation coefficient was estimated as a measure of the correlation.RESULTS: The major peaks of malaria prevalence were observed following the peaks of rainfall in the Gilgel-Gibe Hydroelectric Dam site. In the control site, the peaks of malaria in some years coincided with the peaks of rainfall, and the pattern of rainfall was relatively less fluctuating. Mean rainfall was negatively correlated with number of malaria cases at lags of 0 and 1 month, but positively correlated at lags of 2 to 4 months. Mean relative humidity showed significant positive correlations at lags of 3 to 4 months. Monthly mean maximum and minimum temperatures weakly correlated at lags of 0 to 4 months.CONCLUSIONS: Correlations of malaria and climate variables were different for the two sites; in Gilgel-Gibe, rainfall and relative humidity showed positive correlations. However, in the control site, the correlation of weather variables and malaria episodes were insignificant. Exploration of additional factors such as vegetation index and physico-chemical nature of mosquito breeding site may improve understanding of determinants of malaria dynamics in the area.KEYWORDS: climatic variables, correlations, Ethiopia, Gilgel-Gibe, malari

In Vivo anti-malarial activities of Clerodendrum myricoides, Dodonea angustifolia and Aloe debrana against Plasmodium berghei

Background: Malaria caused by the parasite Plasmodium falciparum is an acute disease which kills an estimated 863,000 people per year according to the WHO report of 2009. The fight against malaria is faced with the occurrence of widespread resistance of P. falciparum. The search for plant-derived antimalarial drugs has great importance in this regard. Thus this study evaluates the toxicity and antimalarial activity of extracts of Clerodendrum myricoides, Dodonia angustifolia and Aloe debrana.Method: Acute and sub acute toxicity studies of the extracts were carried out by giving up to 3000mg/kg to noninfected mice. Weight loss, change in general behavior and mortality were used as indicators of toxicity. Doses of 200, 400 & 600mg/kg/day of each extract of C.myricoides, D. dodonia and A.debrana were given orally to Plasmodium berghei infected mice following the four-day suppressive test procedure.Results: None of the extracts caused symptoms of toxicity at the given doses. Each extract showed variable level of parasitaemia suppression in dose related manner. Methanol extract of C. myricoides leaves exerted 82.50% suppression at the dose of 600mg/kg. The methanol extract of the root of D. angustifolia showed the highest (84.52%) suppression of parasitaemia at the dose of 600mg/kg. Furthermore, methanol extract of A. debrana induced 73.95% suppression, whereas its water extract exerted 54.36% suppression of parasitaemia.Conclusion: Crude extracts of C. myricoides, D. angustifolia and A.debrana caused strong activities against P. berghei indicating that they contain some chemical constituents that possibly lead to antimalarial drug development. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 2010; 24(1):25-29

Evaluation of the Efficacy of Crude Extracts of Salix subserrata and Silene macroselen for the treatment of rabies in Ethiopia

A study was conducted between November, 2007 and April, 2008 to evaluate the anti-rabies activity of the leaf of Salix subserrata and root of Silene macroselen which are traditionally used for the treatment of rabies in Bereh-Aleltu Woreda, North Shewa, Central Ethiopia. The study involved oral administration of crude extracts of Salix subserrata and Silene macroselen to Pasteur Virus (PV) strain rabies virus infected mice which were assigned into three treatment and one negative control groups. Chloroform, methanol 80% and aqueous extracts of the study plants were prepared using maceration technique. Statistical analysis was performed by one-way analysis of variance tests coupled to least significant difference to compare result between treatment and positive control groups. Of the 6 crude extracts, chloroform and methanol 80% of Silene macroselen and chloroform and aqueous of Salix subserrata were found to increase the survival time of mice significantly (P< 0.05). Nevertheless, aqueous extract of Silene macroselen and methanol 80% extract of Salix subserrata did not exhibit a significant effect on the survival time. 1 day and 2 days treatment groups of the chloroform extract of S. macroselen indicated significant difference on the survival time from the positive control (P< 0.05). The chloroform and aqueous extracts of S. subserrata and the methanol 80 % extract of S. macroselen in their 1 day and 3 days treatment showed significant difference on survival time from the positive control group (P< 0.05). The results obtained from the present work suggest good correlation between traditional therapeutic uses and the in vivo anti-rabies activity. Further characterization of the active ingredients would reveal useful compounds. Keywords: Anti-rabies, Ethno-pharmaceutical, Mice model, PV strain, Salix subserrata, Silene macrosele

The status of rabies in Ethiopia: A retrospective record review

Background: Rabies, a viral disease that affects all warm-blooded animals, is widespread in many regions of the world. Human rabies, transmitted by dogs is an important public health issue in Ethiopia. To-date, effective rabies control program still remains to be a reality and needs to be strengthened..Objective: Reviewing of recorded data to generate information on the status of rabies in Ethiopia for the year 2001-2009.Methods: A retrospective data were used from the Ethiopian Health and Nutrition Research Institute rabies case record book registered between 2001 and 2009.Results: The fatal human cases during the period of study were 386 humans with annual range of 35 to 58. The over all post exposure treatment for humans was 17,204 within and around Addis Ababa. During the same period, 20,414 suspected rabid animals were clinically examined; nevertheless, only 10%were positive for rabies. Among 3,460 animal brains investigated in the laboratory with FAT, 75% were confirmed as rabies positive. The production and distribution of anti-rabies vaccine reached 130,673 treatment doses for human vaccine and 85,055 doses for animal vaccine respectively in the period of 2001-2009.Conclusion: The recorded data showed the underestimate of rabies diagnosis, post exposure prophylaxis and fatal human cases, which could be attributed due to the absence of national rabies surveillance system. Therefore, It is of paramount importance to assess and map the national picture of rabies within a given time interval to launch a national rabies control strategy. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 2010;24(2):127-132

Overview of Rabies in and around Addis Ababa, in Animals Examined in EHNRI Zoonoses Laboratory Between, 2003 and 2009

A retrospective data on the number of confirmed animal rabies cases and applied rabies control measures over the period 2003-2009 were collected and analyzed to elucidate the situation of animal rabies in and around Addis Ababa. Over the last seven years, 2517 animals brain tissue samples from Dogs, Cats, Cattle, Horses, Donkeys, Shoats, Hyenas and Monkeys were examined for rabies using Fluorescent Antibody Test. Out of all samples examined, 76.9% (n=1936) were positive for rabies antigen. A statistically significant difference (χ2 = 34.08(1),

An empirical study of the impacts of redevelopment project on property prices of residential buildings in Hong Kong

Thesis (B.Sc)--University of Hong Kong, 2009.Includes bibliographical references (p. 93-102).published_or_final_versio

Prevalence and associated risk factors of malaria among adults in East Shewa Zone of Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Malaria is one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. The disease is prevalent in over 75% of the country's area making it the leading public health problems in the country. Information on the prevalence of malaria and its associated factors is vital to focus and improve malaria interventions. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out from October to November 2012 in East Shewa zone of Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. Adults aged 16 or more years with suspected malaria attending five health centers were eligible for the study. Logistic regression models were used to examine the effect of each independent variable on risk of subsequent diagnosis of malaria. RESULTS: Of 810 suspected adult malaria patients who participated in the study, 204 (25%) had microscopically confirmed malaria parasites. The dominant Plasmodium species were P. vivax (54%) and P. falciparum (45%), with mixed infection of both species in one patient. A positive microscopic result was significantly associated with being in the age group of 16 to 24 years [Adjusted Odds Ratio aOR 6.7; 95% CI: 2.3 to 19.5], 25 to 34 years [aOR 4.2; 95% CI: 1.4 to 12.4], and 35 to 44 years [aOR 3.7; 95% CI: 1.2-11.4] compared to 45 years or older; being treated at Meki health center [aOR 4.1; 95% CI: 2.4 to 7.1], being in Shashemene health center [aOR = 2.3; 95% CI: 1.5 to 4.5], and living in a rural area compared to an urban area [aOR 1.7; 95% CI: 1.1 to 2.6)]. CONCLUSION: Malaria is an important public health problem among adults in the study area with a predominance of P. vivax and P. falciparum infection. Thus, appropriate health interventions should be implemented to prevent and control the disease

Climate Variability and Change: Implications for Malaria Control and Elimination in Africa

In Ethiopia, malaria continues to be a major public health concern with an estimated two thirds of the national population at risk of infection. Tackling a key driver, this workshop was convened to advance the understanding of the impact of climate variability and change in relation to the malaria burden to better inform policy decisions related to current control and future elimination strategies. To achieve this, the workshop explored data, methodologies and tools that could be used by national public health researchers to improve malaria risk assessments. The motivation for the workshop came from an NIH funded project entitled “Climate Variability and Change: Implications for Malaria Control and Elimination in Africa” with the goal of supporting malaria researchers in affected countries in East Africa to identify opportunities for improving the effectiveness of prevention, control and elimination strategies by incorporating an understanding of likely short and longer term changes in the climate in their analysis. In particular, the workshop aimed to address the challenge of varied drivers of the climate, acting at multiple timescales including year to year variability, 10-20 year climate shifts and long term trends associated with climate change. Data sources explored during the workshop included the newly developed Enhanced National Climate Services (ENACTS) rainfall and temperature products disseminated by the Ethiopian National Meteorological Agency (NMA), as well as globally available climate products freely distributed online. The Climate Predictability Tool (CPT), developed by the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), to assist climatologists in making robust predictions was tested for the first time as a potential tool for the malaria research community to assess the relationship of malaria to large-scale climate processes. In addition, a multi-model malaria platform (MMMP) was presented during the workshop to explore uncertainty associated with the predictability of malaria over time using a series of process-based models