Background COVID-19 is an emerging infectious disease which is a major public health problem worldwide. Given the serious threats imposed by COVID-19 and the absence of vaccines until August 2020, preventive measures play an essential role in reducing infection rates and controlling its spread. This shows the necessity of public adherence for preventive and control measures, which is affected by their knowledge, attitudes, and practices. Objective This study aimed to determine knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) towards COVID-19 and associated factors among outpatient service visitors, Debre Markos compressive specialized hospital, north-west,Ethiopia. Method Institutional-based cross-sectional study design with a systematic random sampling technique was conducted from July to August 2020. Among a total of 404 participants, 398 were recruited. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire. The data was edited, coded, and entered into Epi data version 4.6 and exported to SPSS-25 for analysis. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression models were employed to identify factors associated with KAP. A p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Result The prevalence of poor knowledge, attitude and practice among the outpatient service visitors were 27.1%, 30.7% and 44%, respectively. The mean age of the participants was 33.4 ±10.9 years. Variables like; educational status, ‘‘can’t read and write” [AOR = 3.76, 95% CI (1.36–10.42), P = 0.01], read and write [AOR = 5.90, 95% CI (2.39–14.98), P = 0.01], rural residence [AOR = 3.04, 95% CI (1.43–6.46), P = 0.01] and having no television [AOR = 0.8, 95% CI (0.79–0.89), P = 0.03] were significantly associated with poor knowledge. While, educational status of “can’t read and write”, [AOR = 6.71, 95% CI (2.78–16.16), P = 0.01] and rural residence [AOR = 2.03, 95% CI (1.14–3.61), P = 0.02] were significantly associated with poor attitude. Additionally, poor knowledge, [AOR = 22.73, 95% CI (10.5–49.21), P = 0.01], rural residence [AOR = 2.08, 95% CI (1.08–4.88), P = 0.04] and having no television [AOR = 2.24, 95% CI (1.05–4.79), P = 0.01] were significantly associated with poor practice. Conclusion In this study, knowledge, attitude, and practice among outpatient service visitors was poor which needs targeted health education and interventions from the health professional to enhance their knowledge, attitude, and practice towards COVID-19. In parallel with this, special attention should be given for the rural community and for those with an educational status of can’t read and write.

Introduction: Globally, hypertension is an important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and all-cause mortality. Despite this high public health burden, no community-based evidence regarding the magnitude and related factors of hypertension has been reported in the study area. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and associated factors of undiagnosed hypertension in Debre Markos town, North-West Ethiopia, 2020. Method: A community-based cross- sectional study design was conducted from January to March 2020. Socio-demographic and behavioral characteristics of the participants were collected using interviewer-administered semi-structured questionnaires. Physical measurements including body mass index, waist circumference, and blood pressure were collected using standardized measuring instruments. Statistical analysis was collected using SPSS version 21 software. Univariate logistic regression model was used to present the results. The p value less than 0.05 in a multivariable analysis was considered statistically significant at 95% confidence interval. Results: From a total of 630 samples, 600 participants, 270 (45%) males and 330 (55%) females with a mean age of 36.32 ± 12.48 years, were participated giving a response rate of 95.2%. The prevalence of undiagnosed hypertension among adults was 12.7%. Of these, 5.5% were males and 7.2% were females. Factors including age (above 60 years) (adjusted odds ratio = 2.92, 95% confidence interval (1.05, 8.06), p = 0.03), body mass index (overweight and obese) (adjusted odds ratio = 3.85, 95% confidence interval (2.16, 6.87), p < 0.01), fatty diet consumption (adjusted odds ratio = 1.88, 95% confidence interval (1.03, 3.42), p = 0.04), family history of hypertension (adjusted odds ratio = 2.21, 95% confidence interval (1.04, 4.69), p = 0.04) were significantly associated with hypertension. Conclusion: The prevalence of undiagnosed hypertension among adults was found to be remarkable. Therefore, a community-based health education and hypertension screening strategies are needed to prevent the problem early in life in Debre Markos town and the nation at large.

This study was conducted on prevalence of intestinal helminthes infection and their associated risk factors among school children from a rural and a semi urban setting in Lumame town, Northwest, Ethiopia. A cross-sectional parasitological study was conducted to determine the prevalence and associated risk factors of intestinal helminthes infection. A total of 402 students' stool samples were taken and processed with direct wet mount and formalin ether concentration techniques from December to January 2011/2012. A structured questionnaire was prepared to assess the association of intestinal helminthes infection with socio-demographic and socioeconomic variables. The data collected was analyzed using  2 test and logistic regression (p < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant). The overall prevalence rate for at least one intestinal helminthes infection was 54.5%. Of which Ascaris lumbricoides (32.6%) was the dominant followed by hookworm (12.2%); the others were minor cases. High rate infection (A. lumbricoides) was recorded among students who had dirty finger nails, large family, habit of eating undercooked vegetable, walking barefoot, and had no latrine than their respective counterpart. Such relatively high prevalence rate of helminthes infection in the study area could be used as a baseline for the concerned bodies to launch de-worming intervention.

Protected areas in Ethiopia faced a range of threats. However, little information is known about the type, pattern, and extent of these threats. Understanding these issues are crucial in prioritizing conservation strategies and to take appropriate mitigation measure for effective protection of wildlife. This study attempts to investigate the relative severity of threat to eastern Ethiopia protected areas and how these protected areas are threatened to the identified threats. A total of forty-five field officers from the five eastern Ethiopia protected areas were interviewed. Thirteen potential threats that affect the biodiversity of eastern Ethiopia were identified. The most important threats include grazing by domestic animal, shortage of funding, increased human population growth, expansion of invasive alien species, weak law enforcement, encroachment of human settlement, human wildlife conflict, lack of alternative livelihood activities and others. All of the protected areas are susceptible to most of the identified threats. Protected areas having acacia commiphora and scrub land a predominant ecosystem type and surrounded by settlement and agricultural land uses practice were the most susceptible to the threat factors. Babile elephant sanctuary and Yangudi-Rassa national park are the two most threatened protected areas. 58% of the threats showed strong positive and significant relationship with protected area relative threatened index. Thus, involvements of multi stakeholders including local community is essential to develop protected area management strategies by prioritizing the identified threats to reduce biodiversity loss in eastern Ethiopia protected areas.

Background In contrast to wind farm collision, birds and bats were understudied and their occurrence and function were poorly understood. Here, study on mortality of iconic bird and bat species were conducted on Adama I and II wind farms during wet (August 2018) and dry (March 2019) seasons. Materials and methods The methodology employed carcass searches using direct physical inspections, semi-structured interviews (n = 50), and focus group discussions of wind farm officials and farmers around Adama I and II wind farms. Descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentages, and chi-square test were employed to analyze the surveyed data. Result The result suggested 51 (78.43%) carcass of bird species comprising 11 families. Out of the 125 installed operational turbines, about 35 species of birds were found in 11 families; 27 unidentified molted carcasses of species of birds were significantly impacted with Adama I and II wind farms. In addition, 11 unidentified species of bat were observed as collision victims. Conclusion Wind farm establishment and expansion in areas with concentrations of the sensitive species had been avoided. To focus on conservation efforts, we illustrate how knowledge of the structural and environmental factors that influence bird and bat collision can be used to record fatalities in the broader landscape. In order to minimize the mortality rate of birds and bats from collision, a comprehensive environmental impact assessment should be undertaken as precautionary measures.