Mycotoxins are poisonous chemical compounds produced by certain fungi. There are five mycotoxins or groups of mycotoxins that occur quite often in food: deoxynivalenol/Nivalenol, zearalenone, ochratoxin, fumonisins and aflatoxins. The fungi that produce mycotoxins in food fall broadly into two groups: those that invade before harvest, commonly called field fungi, and those that occur only after harvest, called storage fungi. There are three types of toxicogenic field fungi: plant pathogens such as Fusarium graminearum (deoxynivalenol, nivalenol); fungi that grow on senescent or stressed plants, such as Fusarium moniliforme (fumonisin) andsometimes Aspergillus flavus (aflatoxin); and fungi that initially colonise the plant before harvest and predispose the commodity to mycotoxin contamination after harvest, such as Penicillium verrucosum (ochratoxin) and Aspergillus flavus (aflatoxin). The favourable conditions for mycotoxins production are instigated with poor hygienic conditions at the time of transportation and storage, high temperature and moisture content and heavy rains. Mycotoxins are distributed in different items such as animal feeds, cereal crops, leguminous plants and animal products.Concentrated animal feed stuffs harbor highest level of mycotoxins. Noug cake and sorghum was warranted as the main source of aflatoxin contaminant among those concentrated animal feeds.Health effects occur in companion animals, livestock, poultry and humans because aflatoxins are potent hepatotoxins, immunosuppressant, and mutagens and carcinogens. Factors that affect mycotoxins production and contamination can be categorized as physical, chemical and biological. Therefore, African countries particularly Ethiopian governmental jurisdictions should implement and regulate level of mycotoxins in animal feed stuffs and human foods.

Parasitic diseases are one of the most common problems that confront the health and productivity of animals worldwide. Parasites are responsible for organ condemnation, zoonoses and huge economic losses in animal production. Various control methods have been implemented to minimize or curb losses caused by parasitic diseases. Chemotherapy and chemoprophylaxis are the most widely used control approaches all over the world. However, development of drug resistance, high price of the drugs, unavailability and growing concern about drug residues hinder the success of this approach. Vaccination is regarded as one of the best alternative method for the control of parasites in the future. In an attempt of to develop commercial vaccines against economically important parasites researchers have so far focused on identifying target antigens. Some of these include ticks salivary gland antigens, secretory and excretory antigens of helminthes and hidden antigens of Heamonchus contortus. As a result of this effort several candidate antigens have been identified, vaccines prepared from them and tested for their suitability and efficacy. However, most of these vaccines have not been widely utilized. Information about the regulations and standard operating procedures that apply to licensing of production and marketing of parasite vaccines is scanty. Therefore, the objective of this article is to review the current status of vaccines against parasitic diseases of animals.

Bovine trypanosomosis is transmitted by tsetse and other biting flies which cause the most serious veterinary and animal production problem in sub-Saharan Africa. Cross sectional study was conducted from September to December, 2013 in Chora district, Western Oromia to assess the prevalence of trypanosomosis and apparent density of its vector. The methods employed during the study were deploying trap for the collection of tsetse flies and buffy coat technique for parasitological study. About 45 monopyramidal baited traps were deployed for 48 h for collection of tsetse fly. In the study area tsetse flies Glossina pallidepes and Glossina tachnoides and other biting flies were trapped. G. pallidepes was caught at altitude of about 2000 m a.s.l. The overall apparent density of the tsetse flies was 2.63 flies/trap/day. Blood samples collected from 384 cattle were centrifuged and examined under microscope. It revealed that Trypanosoma congolense 46(12.0%), Trypanosoma vivax 3(0.8%), no infection of Trypanosoma brucei and mixed infection 3(0.8%) of the two trypanosomes species were the causes of bovine trypanosomosis in the study area. The overall prevalence of bovine trypanosomosis was 13.6%. The female cattle were infected with the prevalence of 35(9.2%) than male cattle 17(4.4%) and this association was insignificant (P > 0.05). The prevalence of trypanosomosis in adult and poor body condition cattle were 49(12.8%) and 20(5.2%), respectively and significantly associated (P < 0.05) with prevalence of trypanosomosis. The red colour cattle were mostly affected 22(5.7%) and insignificantly associated (P > 0.05). Aneamic and non-aneamic cattle have trypanosomes infection rate of 43(11.2%) and 9(2.34%), respectively. Aneamic cattle were significantly associated (P < 0.005) with the prevalence of trypanosomosis, but non-aneamic cattle were insignificantly associated (P > 0.05). Generally, the study concludes that tsetse flies were an important vector for the epidemiology of bovine trypanosomosis in Chora district. Therefore, disease and its vector control and prevention methods and further studies on the trypanosomal drug resistance should be undertaken to improve livestock production and productivity in the study area.

A study was carried out from October, 2009 to April, 2010 with the objective of isolating Edwardsiella tarda an important fish pathogen from fish harvested for human consumption from Lake Zeway and Langanoo. A total of 372 tissue samples (three from each fish) comprising liver, intestine and kidney were collected from 124 fish (Clarias gariepinus and Oreochromis niloticus originated from Lake Langanoo and Zeway. Distribution of E. tarda infection among the three organs examined indicated that E. tarda was isolated most frequently from liver (6.5%) followed by intestine (2.4%) and kidney (0.8%) with significant difference among organs. Statistical significant differences (P<0.05) were found in E. tarda infection with respect to site although the bacterium was isolated from fish originating from both Lake Zeway and Langanoo with E. tarda being more prevalent in fish sampled from lake Zeway. E. tarda was isolated more frequently from male fish, the differences in the occurrence of E. tarda infection with respect to sex were not significant (P>005) indicating that both sexes are equally susceptible. The isolation of Edwarsiella from wild fish population of Lakes Zeway and Langano destined for human consumption in the current study is indicates that E. tarda is a potential threat of both the fishery sector/aquaculture and public health. Finally, as is the case for any infectious fish pathogen, there is limited information on E. tarda of fish in Ethiopia and hence further study to have comprehensive information on the agent is forwarded.

Introduction Infectious disease impacts are reduced due to the development of antimicrobial agents. However, the effectiveness of antimicrobial agents is reduced over time because of the emergence of antimicrobial resistance. To overcome these problems, scholars have been searching for alternative medicines. Ricinus communis is used as a traditional treatment for bovine mastitis, wound infection, and other medicinal purposes. Objective The objective of the present study was to further evaluate the antimicrobial activities of R. communis leaf extracts and fractions. Methods R. communis leaves were macerated in methanol and acetone. The methanol extract showed better antimicrobial activity and subjected to further fractionation via increasing polarity of solvents (n‐hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and aqueous). Test microorganisms included in the study were six laboratory reference bacteria (Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus agalactiae, Kleibsella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Streptococcus pyogenes), two clinical isolate bacteria (E. coli and S. aureus), and Candida albicans. The agar well diffusion method was employed to determine antimicrobial activity. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and minimum bactericidal/fungicidal concentrations (MBC/MFC) were determined through broth microdilution. Results The results indicated that the best antimicrobial activity for ethyl acetate fraction ranged from 14.67 mm (clinical E. coli) to 20.33 mm (S. aureus) at 400 mg/ml, however, n‐hexane exhibited the lowest antimicrobial activity. Among the tested fractions, ethyl acetate fraction showed the lowest MIC values ranged from 1.5625 mg/ml (S. aureus) to 16.67 mg/ml (Candida albicans). The ethyl acetate fraction showed bactericidal activity against all tested microorganisms. Conclusion Hence, ethyl acetate fraction of crude methanol extract exhibited the best antimicrobial activity.