A cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2011 to March 2012 on a total of 384 lactating (Zebu 183, Jersey103 and Holstein 93) dairy cows randomly selected from 29 rural kebele in which three small scale dairy farms were included. The study was designed with the objective to determine the prevalence of mastitis and isolate the major bacteria that causes mastitis involved in areka woreda and its surrounding wolayta zone. Milk samples was collected and bacteriological culture was done and further confirmation was done by BIOLOG identification system. The overall prevalence of mastitis in the area was 52.9% (n = 203), out of which 9.4% (n = 36) were clinical and 43.5% (n =167) were subclinical cases. Among the isolated bacterial genera, the isolate were Staphylococcus (14.8%), Streptococcus (7.5%), Corynebacterium (0.52%) and coliform (0.25%). Characterization was also under taken and the species recovered were Staphylococcus aureus 136 (54.4%) dominating followed by Streptococcus dysagalactiae 62 (24.8%), Staphylococcus intermidius (8.4%) Streptococcus.uberis 13 (5.2%) Staphylococcus epidermides (4.4%) Streptococcus agalactia 4 (1.6%), Corynebacterium pyogens 2 (0.8%) and Escherichia coli 1 (0.4%). There was no statically significant variation (P>0.05) between breeds and the parity number of the cow, but the prevalence of mastitis was found to be statistically significantly among different age groups and lactation stages (p<0.05). The study shows that mastitis is significant problem of dairy cows in the study area and the major isolated bacteria were contagious pathogens. Therefore, hygienic milking practice, culling of chronically infected cows and hygienic practice in the environment should be followed.

BackgroundBlackleg is one of the major bacterial infections causing tremendous economic losses to cattle herders in many parts of Ethiopia. Despite the huge burden, no comprehensive studies have quantified the impact or its distribution throughout the country. This study was aimed to estimate the epidemiological aspect of blackleg, financial costs and benefits of its control through annual vaccination on small holder cattle herders in Southern Ethiopia.MethodsAnnual financial cost due to blackleg was calculated as the sum of production losses due to mortality, morbidity, treatment and vaccination costs at herd level. Production loss due to the disease was estimated and compared between local zebu and crossbred cattle. Partial budget analysis was used to estimate financial benefit of control intervention through annual vaccination.ResultsAn overall cumulative incidence and mortality rate of blackleg in local zebu cattle population was 17.9 % (95 % CI 16.5–19.4) and 3.6 % (95 % CI 2.9–4.4 %) respectively. Cumulative incidence and mortality rate attributed to blackleg in crossbreds cattle was 19 % (95 % CI 16.9–21.6) and 3.9 % (95 % CI 2.9–5.3 %) respectively. There was no statistically significant difference (p > 0.05) in both variables between the two breeds. Financial costs in blackleg infected herds was estimated to be USD 9.8 (95 % CI 6.7–14.4) per head for local zebu and USD 16 (95 % CI 10–24.4) per head for crossbred cattle. The marginal rate of return that could be obtained from the control intervention was estimated to be 9 (900 %) and the net benefit per head was USD 0.4 for local zebu and USD 0.8 for crossbred cattle. Vaccination, therefore, reduces financial losses due to blackleg by 3.4 and 6.9 % per head in local zebu and crossbred cattle herds respectively.ConclusionsThe present study revealed considerable financial losses due to blackleg occurrence. The information obtained would be helpful to improve the farmers’ livelihood and may open new avenues of research for the eradication and control of the disease at local and national level.

An experimental study was conducted on day-old chicks to evaluate the safety and efficacy of combined Newcastle diseases (ND), fowl pox (FP) and fowl typhoid (FT) vaccine. The vaccine was prepared using the Lasota strain of Newcastle disease virus (NDV), the FP strain of fowl pox virus (FPV) and the 9R strain of FT. The vaccine was found safe, as no clinical signs or mortalities were observed. Post vaccination Haemaglutination Inhibition (HI) titre for ND was above the required protection level (≥1:16) and its geometric means (GM) were 0.0098, 0.0063 and 0.0059 for group one, two and three respectively, who received conventional and combined vaccine. The difference in GM between the three vaccinated groups were not significant (p=0.544). The trivalent combined vaccine did not show significant difference in the HI titre result among the groups that were given conventional vaccines and the other two experimental groups which received trivalent vaccine (p=0.257). From 75 samples, 73 (97.3%) were positive for FT through rapid slide agglutination test (RSAT). The chicks were challenged separately for the three diseases using the specific pathogens. Both combined and conventional vaccine conferred protection upon challenge. For ND challenge, 93.3% (n=14/15) of the control groups died. From FT and FP control groups 86.6% (n=13/15) and 20% (n=3/15) respectively died up on challenge. Both combined and conventional vaccine type conferred a similar and good level of protection. However, the use of combined vaccine has considerable advantage particularly in terms of convenience and cost effectiveness to control multiple diseases through simple immunization schedule. Further studies were recommended on the development of combined avian vaccines in Ethiopia.