Abstract. Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a neglected tropical disease strongly associated with poverty. Treatment is problematic and no vaccine is available. Ethiopia has seen new outbreaks in areas previously not known to be endemic, often with co-infection by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) with rates reaching 5.6% of the cases. The present study concerns the development of a risk model based on environmental factors using geographical information systems (GIS), statistical analysis and modelling. Odds ratio (OR) of bivariate and multivariate logistic regression was used to evaluate the relative importance of environmental factors, accepting P ≤0.056 as the inclusion level for the model's environmental variables. When estimating risk from the viewpoint of geographical surface, slope, elevation and annual rainfall were found to be good predictors of CL presence based on both probabilistic and weighted overlay approaches. However, when considering Ethiopia as whole, a minor difference was observed between the two methods with the probabilistic technique giving a 22.5% estimate, while that of weighted overlay approach was 19.5%. Calculating the population according to the land surface estimated by the latter method, the total Ethiopian population at risk for CL was estimated at 28,955,035, mainly including people in the highlands of the regional states of Amhara, Oromia, Tigray and the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region, one of the nine ethnic divisions in Ethiopia. Our environmental risk model provided an overall prediction accuracy of 90.4%. The approach proposed here can be replicated for other diseases to facilitate implementation of evidence-based, integrated disease control activities.

Abstract. Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), a vector-borne disease strongly influenced by environmental factors, has (re)-emerged in Ethiopia during the last two decades and is currently of increasing public health concern. Based on VL incidence in each locality (kebele) documented from federal or regional health bureaus and/or hospital records in the country, geographical information systems (GIS), coupled with binary and multivariate logistic regression methods, were employed to develop a risk map for Ethiopia with respect to VL based on soil type, altitude, rainfall, slope and temperature. The risk model was subsequently validated in selected sites. This environmental VL risk model provided an overall prediction accuracy of 86% with mean land surface temperature and soil type found to be the best predictors of VL. The total population at risk was estimated at 3.2 million according to the national population census in 2007. The approach presented here should facilitate the identification of priority areas for intervention and the monitoring of trends as well as providing input for further epidemiological and applied research with regard to this disease in Ethiopia.

The study was conducted to identify breeding objectives, existed breeding strategies and selection criteria of goat owners in mixed crop-livestock production systems in Horro Guduru Wollega Zone, western Ethiopia. Data were collected from 306 households through semi structured and structured questionnaires, focal group discussions and secondary sources. The data were analyzed using SAS version 9.2 (2008). General linear model procedure (PROC GLM) of SAS was used for goat flock size and structure. An index was calculated to provide overall ranking for categorical variables. The overall average goat flock size in the study area was 7.6±0.2. Income generation (0.48), meat for home consumption (0.34), saving (0.10), ceremony (0.05) and manure (0.03) were the reasons of goat rearing in the study area. Most (72.22%) of farmers practiced uncontrolled mating system. About 32.35% of farmers in the study area had their own breeding buck while 67.65% of farmers shared breeding bucks with their neighbors. Liter size (0.26), growth rate (0.22) and age at first kidding (0.14) were the farmer's selection criteria for breeding doe in the order indicated while growth rate (0.38), appearance (0.34) and coat colour type (0.16) were the farmers selection criteria for breeding bucks. When designing sustainable breed improvement strategies in this production system, mechanisms to include all categories of traits should be considered.

Infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis is one of the most common eye diseases of cattle and is of major eco-nomic importance in the world. It is a bacterial infection of the eye that causes inflammation and in severe cases temporary or permanent blindness. In cattle, the gram-negative bacterium Moraxella bovis is regarded as the main cause of the disease that affects cattle of all ages and occurs worldwide. Also, Moraxella bovoculi and a range of other bacteria, viruses, and environmental conditions seem to be involved. Moraxella bovis has several pathogenic mechanisms; however, only two, pili and the secretion of a β-hemolytic cytotoxin, have been determined to cause clinical disease. The pili allow the bacteria to attach to the dark cells of the corneal epithelium. The hemolysin is a pore-forming toxin that lyses corneal epithelial cells leading to ulceration and causes lysis of bovine leukocytes. The virulence of Moraxella bovis is influenced by both host and environmental factors. It is one of the examples of the diseases that may cause production losses in both dairy and beef farms in many countries.The economic impact of the disease is significant due to its high contagious nature. Most cattle producers are familiar with this disease but may not know how to best treat it and minimize its spread within the herd. The cost and time used in treating infected cattle adds to the economic losses. The best strategies to prevention and control of an outbreak are maximizing the herd's immune status, minimizing the concentration of the Moraxella bacteria, and maintaining as irritant-free environment as possible. Treatment decisions are influenced by numerous factors such as effectiveness of the drug selected, cost, labor availability, withholding times, facilities, and availability of veterinary support. Vaccines are partially protective and cannot be completely relied upon to prevent the disease. Coming up with one solution is difficult because of all the contribution factors. Therefore, isolation and a swift reaction are keys in reducing the spread of the disease.

The study was conducted to investigate the perception of dairy cattle owners on oestrus synchronization and mass artificial insemination services in Jimma zone, south western Ethiopia. Two hundred forty nine dairy cattle owners who had used oestrus synchronization and mass artificial insemination services at least once over the last 5 years time were randomly selected and interviewed from three milk shade districts of Jimma zone. All data were analyzed by SAS version 9.2 (2008). Chi-square (x 2 ) test was carried out to assess the statistical significance among categorical variables. An index was also calculated to provide overall ranking. Majority (73.09 %) of beneficiaries of oestrus synchronization had low to medium perception about the important management practices like selection of appropriate cows/heifers, asking for quality of the hormone being used (expiration date of the hormone), separation of bulls and hormone treated cows/heifers and time/date of insemination after hormone treatment. Consequently, majority (67.47%) of the farmers faced failure of response for hormone treatment at least once. The main reasons for the failure were selection of inappropriate animals (I=0.40), injection of expired or ineffective hormone (I=0.37) and low dose of hormone (I=0.24). In addition, due to lack of awareness, dairy cattle owners had allowed their bulls to graze together with hormone treated cows/heifers. Moreover, the study also revealed that, 64.66 % of dairy cattle owners in Jimma zone were faced failure of mass AI services. The principal reasons for the failure of mass AI services were heat detection problem (I=025), poor quality semen (I=0.23) and distance of AI center (I=0.22). Therefore, in order to enhance the efficiency of the technology and eventually increase the satisfaction of beneficiaries, emphasis should be given on identified problems and concerted effort should be operated from all responsible sectors.

Ethiopia has the largest livestock population in Africa and is a homeland of large number of goat populations which are kept in various production systems and different agro-ecological zones of highlands, sub-humid, semi-arid and arid environments (Getnet,2016). Livestock plays an important role in providing export commodities, such as live animals, hides and skins to earn foreign exchanges for the country (CSA, 2013). Goat production is one of the integral parts of livestock farming an activity of the country. The majority of the goat population is found in large flocks in the arid and semi-arid Lowlands. Goats in the highlands are widely distributed in the mixed crop-livestock production systems with very small flock size (Tesfaye, 2004). Almost all goat population is managed by resource poor smallholder farmers and pastoralists under traditional and extensive production systems (Solomon, 2014). According to CSA (2016-17), the number of goats reported in the country is estimated about 30.20 million and with respect to breed, almost all of the goats are indigenous which accounts for 99.99% (CSA, 2013). The previous research (FARM Africa, 1996) on phenotypic characterization indicated that there are about 12 goat types in Ethiopia while, a genetic study that used microsatellite markers showed only eight distinctively different types of goats in Ethiopia (Tesfaye, 2004). However, the current molecular study on the domestic goats by Getnet (2016) does not support the former classifications of the indigenous goat populations. After detailed analysis of the goat population based on production systems, agro-ecologies, goat families, admixture and phylogenetic network analyses he classified the 12 Ethiopian goat populations in to six goat types.

Background Organ failure is incapability of at least one of the body organs to carry out a normal body functions. Identifying the predictors of the organ failure is crucial for improving COVID-19 patients’ survival. However, the evidence related to this information is not well-established in developing countries, including Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the incidence and predictors of organ failure among adult patients admitted to Hiwot Fana Specialized University Hospital (HFSUH) COVID-19 treatment center from 1st May 2020 to 20th August 2021, Eastern Ethiopia. Methods A hospital-based retrospective cohort study design was implemented. Descriptive measures such as mean with standard deviation (SD), median with interquartile range (IQR), percentages, and frequencies were computed. The binary logistic regression was used to identify the association between outcome variables (organ functional status) and independent variables with an adjusted odds ratio (AOR) at a 95% confidence interval. A significance level was declared at a p-value of less than 0.05. Results The mean age of study participants was 47.69 years with the standard deviation (SD) of ± 17.03. The study participants were followed for the median time of 8 days with IQR of 4, 14. The incidence of organ failure was 11.9 per 1000 person-day contribution (95% CI: 9.5, 14.9). Predictors such as age above 60 years (AOR = 1.71, 95% CI: 1.44, 4.53), smoking history (AOR = 5.07, 95% CI: 1.39, 8.15), cardiovascular disease (AOR = 5.00, 95% CI: (1.83, 11.72), and critical clinical stages of COVID-19 (AOR = 5.42, 95%: 1.47, 14. 84) were significantly associated with organ failure among COVID-19 hospitalized patients. Conclusions The incidence of organ failure was 11.9 per 1000 person-day contribution. Age, smoking, comorbidity, and clinical stages were significantly associated with organ failure among COVID-19 hospitalized cases. Therefore, clinicians should stringently follow the patients experiencing modifiable predictors of organ failure, especially patients with comorbidities and severe clinical stages. Moreover, the prevention programs that target elders and smokers should be strengthening to save this segment of populations before suffering from organ failure following COVID-19.

This review was aimed to summarize and synthesize the fragmented information on breeding objectives, breeding practice of goat keeper's and effectiveness of existing goat cross breeding program as an input for suitable and sustainable genetic improvement strategies. Goats in Ethiopia are found in all agro-ecological zones. However, the selection criteria, breeding objectives and breeding practices of goat keepers are not similar across all agro ecologies and production systems. In arid and semi-arid lowlands of the country, the primary breeding objective of most of goat keepers was milk yield while in highland parts of the country goat owners keep goats for income generation to be used for different purposes like emergency cases and different household expenses. Cross breeding of goats as productivity improvement program had been implemented for nearly twenty seven years in the country via different projects. However, the result indicated that, in comparison to indigenous breeds, the crossbreds were not productive under village conditions where over 83.9% of Ethiopian human population is found. The reasons for fruitless ending of some of the projects were lack of clear targets aligned to the production environments, incompatibility of the genotype with the farmers breeding objectives, management methods and absence of involvement of all stakeholders in the productivity enhancement program. Therefore, there needs to be a concerted effort to formulate and implement suitable and sustainable breeding program. Community-based breeding program on the adapted indigenous breeds seems to be undoubted to increase and sustain the productivity of goats in the countryso as to meet the demands of the ever growing human population.