A cross-sectional study was carried out from July 2011 to September 2013 to assess the seroprevalence and identify risk factors of Toxoplasma gondii infection in domestic ruminants of East Hararghe zone of Oromia region, Ethiopia. Sera of 1360 domestic ruminants were analyzed for the presence of anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies using the indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (iELISA). Additionally, the owners were also interviewed using a structured questionnaire to identify the potential risk factors of T. gondii infection. Overall, the prevalence of T. gondii infection in domestic ruminants was 22.2% (302/1360). The seroprevalence in sheep, goats, cattle, and camels was 33.7%, 27.6%, 10.7%, and 14.4%, respectively. District, species, sex, age, and water source were identified as risk factors for T. gondii infection. Increased seropositivity was observed in females (OR = 2.63) and also with the use of pond (OR = 4.25) and pipe (OR = 9.57) water sources in sheep; age >1 year old (OR = 3.45) and with drinking from pond (OR = 6.03) and pipe (OR = 11.61) water sources in goats; with the use of pond (OR = 5.60) and pipe (OR = 10.68) water sources in cattle; and in >4-year-old camels (OR = 2.49). In conclusion, T. gondii infection is common and widespread among the domestic ruminants of the study area, indicating the potential transmission to humans from these animals when they are used as a source of food. Hence, it is crucial to raise awareness of the people about T. gondii infection and conduct further study to explore the impact of the disease on food animal production.

Sheep and goats are important contributors to food production in Ethiopia providing meat, milk and income generation for the country. Skins are the most important items to generate foreign currency for developing countries like Ethiopia. However, the huge resource potential of sheep and goats populations of the country are constrained and threatened by compound effect of diseases, poor management and malnutrition. Parasitic skin diseases caused by ectoparasites such as mange mites, lice, keds and ticks are among these threats resulting in serious economic loss to the tanning industry and the country as a whole. The economic impact of ectoparasitism in Ethiopia is not well documented. Tanneries reported that 35% of sheep skin and 56% of goats' skin are rejected due to external parasites, and out of the reject groups of the processed skin, about 80 to 90% defects were believed to be due to external parasites. The estimated economic loss due to drop in quality of sheep and goat skin is around USD 25.8 million per year. It also takes time before disease affected animals after treatment could return to their normal body condition. Currently, ectoparasites are among major causes in decreased production, reproduction of these animals as well as leather quality deterioration, down grading and rejection of skins. As many as one-quarter to one third of all skins processed at tanneries in Ethiopia have various defects and are unsuitable for export purposes where most of these defects occur in the pre-slaughter stage of production while the animals are alive and are directly related to parasitic skin diseases. Information available so far in Ethiopia indicate that parasitic skin diseases of small ruminants are widely distributed in different agro-climatic areas, causing serious economic loss to the farming community, tanning and leather industry at large, seriously hampering the income generation and foreign currency flow to the country. The extent of the problem has increased continuously during the past few years, threatening the small ruminant population, health, production and reproduction that warrants cost effective control measures.

A study to determine the prevalence and associated risk factors of gastrointestinal helminths in horses was conducted from October 2009 to May 2010 in three districts of the Arsi-Bale highlands of Oromiya region. A total of 2683 fecal samples for the coproscopic examination and 80 pooled samples for recovery of parasitic larvae were collected and processed in Asela Regional Veterinary Laboratory. The overall prevalence of gastrointestinal helminths was 84.4 %, out of which, 59.1 % were mixed infections. Coprological examination revealed the existence of six species and five genera of helminths namely, Strongylus species 39.5 %, Cyathostomes 35.1 %, Trichostrongylus axei 29.0 %, Fasciola hepatica 23.1 %, Triodonthophorus species 13.9%, Parascaris equorum 11.7 %, Oxyuris equi 1.8 %, Strongyloides westeri 0.7 %, Dictyocaulus arnifieldi 0.5 %, Anoplocephala species 0.3 % and Gastrodiscus species 0.2 %. No significant variations (P>0.05) in prevalence of helminths were noticed in relation to districts, age and sex groups of horses, except in case of Parascaris equorum and Fasciola hepatica, in which prevalence was observed to significantly decrease and increase with age, respectively (P<0.05). The average egg per gram of faeces in this study was 745.2 with a range of 100 to 10,500. The coproculture study revealed that Strongylus vulgaris, Strongylus edentatus and Cyathostomes were the major helminths larvae identified in the area during the study period. Thus, the present study revealed that gastrointestinal helminths are among the major health constrains of equines in the area demanding an urgent control intervention.

BackgroundTreatment of trypanosomosis is currently facing a number of problems including toxicity of trypanocidal drugs and development of resistance by the parasites. These limitations have prompted the search for alternative active substances (such as of natural origin). The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of extracts of Moringa stenopetala and Artemisia absinthium on Trypanosoma congolense in mice.MethodsSwiss white male mice aged 8–12 weeks were divided into six experimental groups of six animals. Water and methanol extracts of the two plants were prepared. T. congolense was isolated from cattle at Ghibe valley (Ethiopia). All experimental mice received approximately 1 x 105 trypanosomes in 0.2 ml of blood. Plant extracts were given orally to four groups (2 plant species and two extraction methods) at 400 mg/kg body weight for seven consecutive days. One group remained as distilled water treated control and the other as diminzene aceturate treated control. The effect of the extracts on levels of parasitaemia, body weight, packed cell volume (PCV) and mice survival was monitored for 25 days.ResultsAll treatments have significantly reduced parasitaemia and helped improve body weight, PCV and survival of mice compared to the water-treated control (P < 0.01 in all cases). These effects were comparable to that with diminazene aceturate. No significant difference was observed in the reduction of parasitaemia between plant extract treatment groups. However, mice with extracts of A. absinthium had significantly higher body weight than those with extracts of M. stenopetala (P < 0.05).ConclusionsThe two plants have antitrypanosomal potential against T. congolense by reducing the levels of parasitaemia, maintaining good PCV and body weight, and prolonging the lives of infected animals.

The study was conducted to investigate the status of anthelmintic (AH) efficacy and associated risk factors for AH resistance in sheep. Questionnaire surveys were undertaken to establish the AH utilization practices of sheep owners at the study area and identify risk factors. Four hundred fourteen sheep were sampled of which 180 sheep were selected based on their higher egg count for the fecal egg count reduction test (FECRT) to assess the efficacy of albendazole, tetramisole and ivermectin against gastrointestinal nematode parasites prevailing in sheep. Fecal culture and postmortem examination techniques were used to identify the species of nematode parasites prevalent before and after treatment. The results show that: 1) albendazole and tetramisole were the most frequently used AH in the area, 2) farmers get the drugs with or without prescription from various sources (10% open markets, 18% private drug stores and 72% government animal health clinics and 3) the prevalence of gastro-intestinal nematode infection in the study areas was 72%. 4) The FECRT revealed all the three tested AH were effective with egg count reduction levels of 96%, 99% and 97% respectively for albendazole, tetramisole and ivermectin. However, post-treatment fecal cultures and postmortem adult worm recovery showed that some Haemonchus contortus worms have escaped the treatments. In conclusion, no anthelmintic resistance was detected from clinical cure point of view but the population of H. contortus that has escaped the treatments deserves further scrutiny as this parasite is the most prolific and highly pathogenic in sheep.