Captivity of wild animals and restriction of their movement can lead to stress, resulting in suppressed immune response and reduced disease resistance ability. Wild animals in zoological gardens can predominately affected by various gastro-intestinal parasites. This study was therefore, conducted to determine occurrence, identify types and assess seasonal variation of gastrointestinal parasites in captive animals at the Zoological garden of Haramaya University. The study involved a retrospective investigation of zoo records and fecal examinations. Twenty two fecal samples were collected in December, 2013 from all the animals in the garden and examined using concentration and fecal culture techniques. Sampling was repeated after four months in April, 2014 to assess seasonal variations of the parasites. The result from the retrospective study showed death of 21 animals in the last five years. Fecal examination confirmed presence of gastrointestinal parasites with an overall mean prevalence rate of 73.8%. A total of 9 parasite taxa were identified of which 6 (66.67%) and 4 (33.33%) were helminths and protozoa respectively. No Cestode and Trematode species were recovered. Trichuris spp., Toxocara spp., Strongyloides spp., Toxascaris leonine, Passalurus ambiguous and Ascaridia spp. were the helminth parasites observed in the garden. Entamoeba spp., Isospora spp. and Eimeria spp. were the protozoan parasites encountered. No remarkable seasonal variation in parasitic infection was noticed in the garden. The study revealed occurrence of gastrointestinal parasites in the zoological garden, most of which are zoonotic and hence future studies are needed to determine risks of cross-transmission.

The present study investigated inhibition of multiple food related pathogens in raw and pasteurised camel milk during fermentation with four novel Lactococcus lactis strains. All pathogens alone in camel milk reached 8.0 log(CFU mL -1 ). When the pathogens were cultivated with L. lactis MS22333 or MS22337 they were reduced between 0.9-6.0 log(CFU mL -1 ). L. lactis MS22314 and MS22336 showed no antimicrobial activity.Bad hygiene and lack of cooling facilities have resulted in spontaneously fermented African camel milk with high incidence of contaminants. Starter cultures promote food safety by controlling the fermentation. Commercial cultures developed for bovine milk acidify poorly in camel milk and cultures optimized for camel milk with inhibitory effects against pathogens are therefore needed.To our knowledge, we have for the first time demonstrated that some L. lactis strains isolated from camel milk can inhibit the growth of food related pathogens in both raw and pasteurised camel milk.

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) activated lactoperoxidase system (LPs) on keeping quality of raw camel milk at room temperature. Camel milk samples were collected from Errer valley, Babile district of eastern Ethiopia. The level of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) for activation of LPs was optimized using different levels of exogenous H 2 O 2 . Strains of LAB (Lactococcus lactis 22333, Weissella confusa 22308, W. confusa 22282, W. confusa 22296, S. Infatarius 22279 and S. lutetiensis 22319) with H 2 O 2 producing properties were evaluated, and W. confusa 22282 was selected as the best strain to produce H 2 O 2 . Storage stability of the milk samples was evaluated through the acidification curves, titratable acidity (TA), total bacterial count (TBC) and coliform counts (CC) at storage times of 0, 6, 12, 18, 24 and 48 hours. The LP activity and the inhibitory effect of activated LPs were evaluated by growing E. coli in pasteurized and boiled camel milk samples as contaminating agent. Results indicated that the W. confusa 22282 activated LPs generally showed significantly (P < 0.05) slower rates of acidification, lactic acid production and lower TBC and CC during the storage time compared to the non-activated sample. The H 2 O 2 producing LAB and exogenous H 2 O 2 activated LPs in pasteurized camel milk significantly reduced the growth of E. coli population compared to non-activated pasteurized milk. Overall, the result of acid production and microbial analysis indicated that the activation of LPs by H 2 O 2 producing LAB (i.e. W. confusa 22282) maintained the storage stability of raw camel milk. Therefore, it can be concluded that the activation of LPs by biological method using H 2 O 2 producing LAB can substitute the chemical activation method of LPs in camel milk.