Abortion in dairy cattle may be caused by infectious and non-infectious agents. Infectious causes of abortion in dairy cattle include brucellosis, leptospirosis, listeriosis, Q fever, bovine viral diarrhea, mycotic abortion and neosporosis. Non-infectious causes of abortion in dairy cattle are genetic and non-genetic disorder. Risk factors associated with abortion in dairy cattle are genetic, environmental, management, geographical factors and infectious factors. Abortion in dairy cows brings about breeding and productive damages. Abortions cause significant economic loss to dairy farm. These losses can be attributed to loss of replacement calves, reduced milk production, costs of treatment, feeding of animals and premature culling of productive cows and heifers. Diagnosis of bovine abortion includes the collection of a complete history of the case and relevant epidemiological data and collected sample for analysis. However, determining the cause of bovine abortion is difficult as abortions are caused by numerous infectious and noninfectious factors. Status of abortion and breeds affected by abortion in Ethiopia were also reviewed.

A cross-sectional study was conducted with aim of assessing prevalence and associated risk factors of bovine fasciolosis in and around Ambo from November 2015 to November 2016. The methodology and procedures used in the studies consisted coprology to determine the EPG, disease prevalence and abattoir survey in slaughtered animal to determine the fluke burden, pathology of liver. A total of 384 fecal samples were examined and 150 (39%) were found to be positive for fasciolosis. Associated predisposing factors taken are; sex and body condition did not show a significant effect for the infection to occur (P>0.05). However, there was a statistically significant association of fasciolosis between age group (p<0.05). Out of 150 positive animals' EPG count indicate that 11 animals' mild infestation, and 55 animals lightly infestation with fasciola egg < 600 EPG. From the total number of cattle slaughtered (258) during study period which was taken randomly at post mortem examination (101) of them were found to be positive for fasciolosis. Fasciola hepatica was found to the only liver fluke species affecting cattle slaughtered in the study area dominating the overall fluke burden. Based on the prevalence rates and local factors, an appropriate control strategy pertinent to the local situation it has designed and forwarded with other point to reduce the disease problem on livestock production.

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The occurrence of brucellosis in different species of livestock has been reported from different parts of Ethiopia, however, the serostatus and risk factors of this disease in small ruminants is not well documented in southwestern parts of the country. This study was conducted from October 2016 to October 2017 to investigate the seroprevalence and associated risk factors of brucellosis as well as its association with abortion in sheep and goats in selected districts of Jimma zone. A total of 804 small ruminants (402 sheep and 402 goats) were randomly selected and blood samples were collected for serological tests. The presence of antibody to Brucella was screened by Rose Bengal Plate Test and confirmed using the complement fixation test. Seroprevalence of 4.2% in sheep and 5.2% in goats was recorded in this study. An overall seroprevalence of 4.7% was recorded in small ruminants in the study areas. Brucella seropositivity was observed more frequently among sheep and goats with a history of abortion (6.7%) than animals that have no history of abortion (3.7%), however, the difference noted was not statistically significant. Older age (OR 3.9, CI = 1.43-9.94), pregnancy (OR 2.6, CI = 1.19-5.72), late term gestation (OR 2.4, CI = 1.54-3.78), mixed flock (OR 2.8, CI = 1.33-5.89) and larger flock size (OR 2.7, CI = 1.08-6.95) were noted to have more number of reactors. Hence, it is important to consider brucellosis as one of the diseases that needs attention and further study should be conducted to identify the circulating Brucella species and other causes of abortion in sheep and goats. Besides, this finding warrants the need for further investigation on its public health impact in the region. Keywords: Brucellosis; Epidemiology; Sheep; Goat; Jimma Zone