Veterinary Science & Technology

Abortion is one of the most important causes of economic losses in Ethiopian cattle industry. A cross sectional study was conducted between October 2016 and October 2017 to quantify the prevalence and associated risk factors of abortion in dairy cattle of Jimma Horro district of Kellem Wollega zone in western Ethiopia. A total of 384 dairy cattle were randomly selected from selected peasant associations of the district based on composition of cattle population. The overall prevalence of abortion was 2.9% (11/384) in the study area. This prevalence indicated that efforts should be made to taken measures to control and prevention of abortion in dairy cattle in study area. Multivariable logistic regression analysis identified that method of breeding (OR=7.4) and season of calving (OR=4.4) as a risk factor of abortion. However, there were no statistically significant differences observed between herd size, age group, parity, body condition, origin and dairy cattle that had previous history of abortion (P>0.05). Thus, there is a need to create awareness about impact of abortion on dairy cattle and appropriate control methods of abortion should be designed and implemented. Moreover, further investigation considering more causes should be carried out to identify the specific cause of abortion and the associated loss in the study area.

A cross-sectional survey was carried out in Jimma town to determine the distribution and causes of lameness in cart-horses. A semi-structured questionnaire was designed and administered to collect all important data from April 2018 to May 2018. A total of 384 horse owners were interviewed to assess the possible cause of lameness. Statistical analysis was done by using SPSS software version 20. Among the total of 384 study participants interviewed 63.5% of them reported that their horse got injuries resulting from different sources. Mechanical injury was recorded the highest (48.6%) causes of lameness whereas car accident was found to be the least. However, no significant (P>0.05) variation among the causes, level of education and age of the owners were documented. Respondents stated that, 65.2%, 29.9% and 4.9% of lame horses were managed by veterinarian and para-veterinarians, traditional healers and by themselves, respectively. In conclusion, the current study has revealed a high occurrence of lameness in cart-horses and mechanical injury is identified as major cause. Thus, awareness creation to horse owners and cart-horse drivers is important to prevent the occurrence of lameness.

A cross sectional study was conducted from November 2017 to April 2018 in Humbo district, Wolaita zone with the objective of estimating the prevalence and risk factors associated with small ruminants’ gastrointestinal nematodes parasites. A total of 384 fecal samples were examined in simple floatation method in laboratory, 218 (56.8%) were found positive for at least one types of gastrointestinal nematode parasites. The study showed that 78/159 (49.1%) of goats and 140/225 (62.2%) sheep were found infected. Based on coprological method different types of nematode eggs were identified including Strongyle type 189 (49.2%), Strongyloid Spp. 39 (10.2%), Trichuris Spp. 12 (3.1%) and Ascaris Spp 2 (0.52%) as a general in both Sheep and Goat. In the same laboratory technique Strongyle 55.1%, Strongyloide 9.8% and Trichuris 3.6% were recorded in Sheep while, Strongyle 40.9%, Strongyloide 10.7%, Trichuris 2.5% and Ascaris 1.26% in Goats were recorded. Strongyle and Strongyloid Spp. (5.5%) were commonly encountered as mixed infection followed by Strongyle type, Strongyloid Spp and Trichuris Spp. (2.5%). There was significant association (P<0.05) between the gastrointestinal nematode infection in animals with different species, sex, body conditions and study site. However, there was no significant difference (P>0.05) in prevalence between age groups of the animals. Gastrointestinal nematodes are observed in our finding as a problem in small ruminants that could hinder the animal performance and production system in study area. Therefore, emphasis should be given for effective prevention, control and treatment as well as creating community-based education on the associated risk factors of gastrointestinal nematodes infection in the study area.

The study was carried out in Gimbi district, west Wollega zone, Ethiopia to assess beekeeping constraints and exploit the existing opportunities for beekeeping. The study used interview, survey and field observation as method of looking for answers for research questions. Purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used to select study sites and household respondents. 156 total household respondents were interviewed using semistructured questionnaires during the study period and SPSS software version 23 was used to analyze the gathered data. 5.42 ± 0.18, 10.23 ± 0.36 and 15.69 ± 0.59 kg were the average honey yield annually from traditional, intermediate and improved hive, respectively. Quality of honey (60.9%), distance from the market place (18.59%) and consumer’s preference (12.82%) were among the most factors governing the price of honey. Even though availability of bee forage and water, presence of immense number of bee density, high demand for local honey from honey traders and consumers and government attention to this sub-sector were encountered as opportunities for beekeeping development, improper application of agro-chemical inputs (1^st), high cost of modern hive and equipment (2^nd), diseases (3^rd) and pests and predators (4^th) were the challenges. Characterization of honeybees of the area, diseases and pest and predators needs further study.

Aim: The study was conducted from November 2014 to April 2015 dairy farms of the Ambo and Holleta town to assess the major observed health problem associated risk factors.

Methods: The total of 20 small and large-scale dairy farms were included in the current observational study. From these selected dairy farms, 475 dairy cattle; 201 in Holleta and 274 in Ambo were examined for different health problems. Observational study was implemented by conducting regular visit during the study period with the interval of once per three weeks.

Results: Accordingly, Dermatophilosis (25.1%), mange mites (18.3%), tick infestation (30.1), lice infestation (20.2), retained fetal membrane (3.1), dystocia (2.8) as common reproductive problem of dairy cows. Infectious disease like clinical mastitis (5.9%), black leg (1.9%), lumpy skin disease (0.63%), foot and mouth disease (0.84) were also recorded.

Conclusion: The result obtained from observational study showed that these major health problems hinder success of dairy farm operation and future expansion. Therefore, further studies should be preceded to develop a control and prevention methods to improve the productivity of the sector.

Tick causes the serious economic losses in livestock production in worldwide. A study was conducted to determine the abundance of tick population on different body parts of cattle as well as in different geographical regions in 2017/018. Three study sites were taken from mid hill, inner terai and terai region of Nepal. Randomly total 45 dairy cattle (15 from each region) were included for the study. Regarding to the ticks distribution in cattle body part, higher number of ticks were recorded on dewlap (38.61%) followed by perineum and udder (25.10%), ear base (15.06%), tail base (9.07%), abdomen (7.34%) and withers (4.83%). Similarly, highest numbers of ticks were recorded in Chitwan (19.46 average number of ticks) cattle followed by Dang (9.13 average number of ticks) and least in Lamjung (5.73 average number of ticks) cattle. This result indicates that higher tick infestation was found in warm, moist, hidden sites with good vascular supply and thin skin in cattle body. Similarly, more number of tick population recorded in cattle keeping with poor animal husbandry practices

Echinococcosis/hydatid disease is one of the most important of the helminth zoonoses and remains a significantproblem worldwide. Based on recent report; five species of the genus Echinococcus are regarded as taxonomically valid. These are Echinococcosis granulosus, Echinococcosis multilocularis, Echinococcosis oligarthrus, Echinococcosis vogeliand Echinococcosis shiquicus . Among this the most widespread is Echinococcosis granulosus and Echinococcosis multilocularis. Echinococcosis granulosus is zoonotic parasite which occurs in Ethiopia and throughout the world. Hydatidosis prevail in all age group, there are no age and sex discrimination. Hydatidosis causes considerable economic loss due to condemnation of edible organs, decreased meat and milk Productions, reduced hide and fleece value and decrease in fecundity. The definitive host of the parasite, Echinococcosis granulosus is dogs which harbor the adult parasite and excrete the parasite eggs along with their feces, whilelivestock and human are the intermediate hosts. Humans can accidentally become intermediate hosts by ingesting the eggs of the tapeworm. While most cysts develop in the liver and lungs, other organs or tissues may become affected. The diagnosis in human conducted with X-rays or ultrasound machine. Whereas, in the other intermediate animal diagnosis of cyst will be conducted only during meat inspection in the abattoir and postmortem examination. In conclusion, basic hygiene such as washing hands with soap after gardening or touching the dog and washing vegetables that may have been contaminated by dog faeces, deworming of dogs with antihelmentic in every six months are important in prevention of this disease.