Malaria is a major public health concern in Ethiopia. With the increase in malaria cases in the Somali Region of Ethiopia, understanding the distribution and identifying the species of malaria vectors is vital to public health. Here we report the first detection of Anopheles stephensi in Ethiopia, a malaria vector typically found in the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, and China, but recently found in Djibouti. An entomological investigation was conducted during November to December 2016 in Kebri Dehar town of the Ethiopian Somali Regional State as ancillary work for Anopheles spp. surveillance. Mosquito larvae were collected from water reservoirs. Larvae were reared in the laboratory to the adult stage and identified morphologically. PCR and sequencing of cytochrome oxidase 1 (COI) and internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) loci were performed. Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) was used to compare sample sequences to sequences in the NCBI nucleotide database for species identification. To further analyze the relationship between the specimen we collected in Kebri Dehar and other Anopheles samples available in Genbank, phylogenetic analysis was performed using a maximum likelihood approach. Molecular and morphological results confirm specimens were An. stephensi. The closest high scoring hit was for all specimens was for the An. stephensi sequence. Independent phylogenetic analyses of COI and ITS2 sequences revealed in both cases strong bootstrap (100) support for our sequence forming a clade with other An. stephensi sequences to the exclusion of any other species of Anopheles. In conclusion, Anopheles stephensi is present in Kebri Dehar town in Ethiopia. These findings highlight the need for additional research to examine the role of An. stephensi in malaria transmission in Ethiopia.

Information on zoonotic diseases in humans and livestock are limited in pastoral/agro-pastoral communities in Ethiopia. A multi-stage cross sectional cluster design study was implemented with the aim to establish the seroprevalence of zoonotic diseases including brucellosis, Q-fever and Rift Valley fever (RVF) in humans and livestock in Adadle Woreda of the Somali Region, Ethiopia. Blood samples were collected from humans and livestock and tested by relevant serological tests. For brucellosis, Rose Bengal test (RBT) and indirect ELISA was used for screening and confirmatory diagnosis respectively. Indirect and competitive ELISA were also used for Q-fever and RVF respectively. The individual seropositivity of Q-fever in livestock was 9.6% (95% CI 5.9–15.1) in cattle, 55.7% (95% CI 46.0–65.0) in camels, 48.8% (95% CI 42.5–55.0) in goats, and 28.9% (95% CI 25.0–33.2) in sheep. In humans, seropositivity of Q-fever was 27.0% (95% CI 20.4–34.0), with prevalence in males of 28.9% vs 24.2% in females (OR = 1.3; 95% CI 0.6–2.5). Camel seropositivity of Q-fever was significantly associated with age (OR = 8.1; 95% CI 2.8–23.7). The individual apparent seroprevalence of RVF was 13.2% (95% CI 8.7–18.8) in humans, 17.9% (95% CI 11.0–27.8) in cattle, 42.6% (95% CI 34.8–50.7) in camels, 6.3% (95% CI 3.3–11.6) in goats and 7.4% (95% CI 4.7–11.5) in sheep. Camels had the highest seropositivity of both Q-fever and RVF. Only a weak correlation was observed between human and livestock seropositivity for both Q-fever and RVF. Only cattle and camels were seropositive for brucellosis by iELISA. The individual seroprevalence of brucellosis was 2.8(0.9–6.4) in humans, 1.5% (95% CI 0.2–5.2) in cattle and 0.6% (95% CI 0.0–3.2) in camels. This study showed the importance of zoonoses in Somali Region and is the first published study to describe RVF exposure in humans and livestock in the country. Even though human exposure to RVF virus was reported, public health sector of Somali Region has not given attention to such zoonoses. Collaboration between public and animal health sectors for further investigation on these zoonoses using the One Health concept is indispensable.

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