Introduction: Food-borne disease is a major health problem especially in low-income countries like Ethiopia. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and practice of food handlers at student cafeteria of Kotebe Metropolitan University. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was conducted among 68 food handlers in student cafeteria of Kotebe Metropolitan University from May 30, 2018 to October 30, 2019. A structured questionnaire was used via face-to-face interviews to assess food handler’s knowledge of food safety and practices food safety. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences window version 20 and presented in the form of frequency tables, percentages, and graphs. The association was tested using Pearson’s chi-square, where P-value (<.05) was considered statistically significant. Results: The result showed that food handlers had good knowledge of food safety and good practice of food safety measured by the passing score of 40 (57.94%) and 48 (70.6%), respectively. Almost all food handlers were aware of the crucial role of knowledge of food safety and food safety practices in the student cafeteria. Accordingly, results of this work revealed that 67 (98.5%), 60 (88.2%), 65 (95.6%), and 56 (82.4%) of the subjects had food safety knowledge, always wash vegetables and fruits, had hand washing facilities with a supply of hot water, soap, and hand drying towel, had a hair mask or cloth during food preparation, and wore safety cloth during food preparation, respectively. Conclusion: The findings revealed significant relationship between food safety practices of food handlers and level of education, specifically regarding access to hand washing facilities, hand washing after a break and in the toilet, changing gloves between raw and ready-to-eat food, and drying and cleaning hands before handling food ( P < .05). Additionally, Kotebe Metropolitan University should design food handling and safety guidelines and offer specific training for food handling workers.

Wetland ecosystems are one of the most important areas that provides different ecosystems services as well as habitat for plant and animal species. In spite of multipurpose, wetland ecosystems are under threats. This study attempts to analyze wetland dynamics of Abay Choman and Jimma Geneti watershed in Horo Guduru Wollega Zone, Western Ethiopia using geospatial techniques. The land use land cover (LULC), the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), and Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) were investigated using Landsat 5 TM of 1991, Landsat 7ETM+ of 2003, and OLI/TIRS of 2021. In the present study, the LULC was classified using a supervised classification method with maximum likelihood algorithm. The red and infrared bands of Landsat imagery from three different time periods were used to calculate NDVI, while the NDWI was estimated using the green and near infrared (NIR) bands of multispectral Landsat images. Results show that wetland ecosystem in the study area decreased by about 125.2 km2 (8.8%) with the rate of 4.2 km2/year. In contrast, agricultural land increased by 223.4 km2 with the rate of 7.4 km2/year between 1991 and 2021. About 66.7 km2 wetland was converted to cultivated land whereas 29.3 and 24.7 km2 of grassland and shrubs land were converted into cultivated land. As a result, the maximum NDVI and NDWI values were decreased between 1991 and 2021. To minimize the rapid loss of wetland and water bodies in the study area, proper land use planning and environmental education should be promoted.

Background: The novel coronavirus pandemic, namely COVID-19, has become a global public health problem. COVID-19 was first reported in Ethiopia on 14 March 2020 by WHO. This paper is aimed at identifying the implication of COVID-19 on the concentration of PM2.5 from March 14, 2020 to July 31, 2020 in Ethiopia. Methods: The study gathered the environmental data released by Addis Ababa Central monitoring station before and during the coronavirus pandemic and discusses its impact on air quality. Daily concentrations of PM2.5 were compared before and during the COVId-19 for 280 days. The study compared the daily concentration of PM2.5 before COVID-19 from October 25, 2019 to March 13, 2020 and during COVID-19 from March 14, 2020 to July 31, 2020. The summary of the particulate matter, number of cases and deaths from March 14, 2020 to July 31, 2020 were analyzed in Ethiopia.Results: The results show that, the concentration of PM2.5 during COVID-19 was higher than before COVID-19. As air pollution increased the number of deaths was increased during coronavirus pandemic. There were 16,615 confirmed cases and 263 number of deaths from March 14, 2020 to July 31, 2020 in Ethiopia. Conclusion: We found that the concentration of PM2.5 during COVID-19 was higher than before COVID-19. COVID-19 has implications for the fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution in metropolitan city.

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Covid-19 affects most of higher education group of peoples; students at higher institutions must be equipped with knowledge, perception, and practice on anticipation measures and ways of transmission. The point of this investigation is to determine the level of knowledge, perception, and practices of students toward COVID-19 at selected Ethiopian higher education institutions. A cross-sectional web survey was conducted from August 10, 2020, to August 30, 2020. The instrument consisted of 8 items on Demographic characteristics, 15 items on knowledge, 4 items on perception, 15 items on practices, and 3 items information usages, changed from a formerly published survey on COVID-19. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were conducted. The result revealed that from the total 342 participants, the majority of students (59.6%) were females, and most of them are young aged below 30 (84.2%). Similarly, most of them were living in Addis Ababa city government 298 (87.1%) and had a degree level of education 244 (71.3%). Most members were likewise playing it safe, for example, staying away from swarms 158 (46.2%) and 83.6% of respondents approached water to wash. In any case, just 37.4% of the respondents have access to infrastructures such as the internet, and 78.4 of the respondent’s approach to laptop or smart-phone. Knowledge, perception, and practice of students play a great role in understanding student’s readiness towards the pandemic of Covid-19. It is also crucial to take actions that help to fight the pandemic. Most of the respondents have access to water for washing, while the majority of them have no sufficient infrastructure for online learning, including the internet, access to laptop, and/or smart-phone during Covid-19. Besides, television and radio, and social media are the most frequently used sources to obtain information about the pandemic.