A cross-sectional study was conducted from December 2016 to May 2017 in and around Sebeta town with the aim of assessing the prevalence of mastitis, isolation of aerobic bacterial and fungal causal agents and assessing antimicrobial resistance pattern of isolated Staphylococcus species in dairy cows. From a total of 383 dairy cows, 220 (57.4%) were found to be positive for mastitis of which 10.4% were affected by clinical mastitis and 47% by subclinical mastitis. Mastitis was more likely to occur in cows above 8 years of age (OR = 16.9, 95% CI = 7.8-36.00) and in those cows washed by hand before milking (OR =7.8, 95% CI = 4.2-14.6) as compared to those subjected to udder washing and drying using towels. Staphylococcus aureus was the most frequently isolated bacterial species (25%) followed by Streptococcus agalactiae (12.3%) and coagulase negative Staphylococcus species (10.5%). Yarrowia lipolytica (10.9%) and Candida etchellsii (7.3%) were the major yeast species isolated, while Aspergillus (6.8%), Mucor (5.9%), Penicillium (3.6%) and Fusarium (3.6%) were the major filamentous fungi species identified from the cultured milk samples. The results of antimicrobial susceptibility testing revealed that the isolated Staphylococcus species were highly resistant to penicillin G (93.1%) and oxytetracycline (79.3%) but were susceptible to vancomycin (100%), sulphamethoxazole/trimethoprim (96.6%), ampicillin (89.7%) and erythromycin (86.2%). It could be concluded that bovine mastitis is a major challenge to the dairy producers in and around Sebeta towns. Appropriate control and preventative measures must be instituted and dairy farmers and workers must be trained on proper milking and hygiene practices in order to reduce the prevalence of mastitis in this region. The penicillin resistant S. aureus could be a source of serious infection in humans as well and hence comprehensive studies including molecular characteristics of drug resistance gene of S. aureus especially of methicillin-resistant should be conducted as farm animals, primarily dairy cattle might serves as a reservoir of infection for humans. In 2% of the cases, only fungal species were identified as causes of mastitis, hence further investigation regarding their pathogenicity and contribution to bovine mastitis is needed.

Background The study was performed from January 2016 to May 2017 with the aim of identifying the impact of sheep and goat pox in skin quality in selected localities of central Ethiopia. Materials and Methods A total of 1360 fresh, salted and dried skins were examined and graded. Pox lesion positive skins were examined by PCR to identify the agent. Results The prevalence of sheep and goat in the study areas was 4.022%. From a total of 86 rejected skins, a large number of skins were in the rejected category (2.78%). There were highly statistically significant associations (p < 0.05) between sheep and goat pox and species and study areas. However, there were no statically significant associations (p > 0.05) between skin size and sheep and pox. Molecular diagnosis of the case revealed that goat pox virus was responsible for the lesion. Conclusion Goat pox virus is the main cause of skin rejection and the factor that causes downgrading of skin.

A study was conducted in 2008 to assess the relationship between common phenotypic traits most considered for marketing sheep and the body weight and price of sheep at markets of four towns in East Showa zone. Six hundred randomly selected sheep purchased for various purposes were studied. The study methods include questionnaire surveys with 600 sheep buyers, color observations and five morphometric measurements on purchased animals. Questionnaire survey responses showed that sheep were commonly bought for slaughter. Almost all respondents consider in order of importance, chest size, lumbar width and tail width as criteria for selecting sheep of their choice. Brownish coat color followed by whitish predominates among the sheep purchased. The mean heart girth, chest size, lumbar width and tail width values of sheep bought for slaughter was significantly higher than for those bought for breeding and other purposes. Animals bought for slaughter and resale earned significantly higher price than those purchased for breeding and fattening. Linear measurement values except tail length and price had strong positive correlations (P<0.01). During sheep marketing, call price to selling price ratio shows that after an intense negotiation, sheep owners accepted 84±7.3% of the call price. In conclusion, sheep market customers' criteria to select sheep of their preference had strong association with the purpose of buying and the price paid after negotiation.