BackgroundHoney is a natural substance produced by honeybees and has nutritional and therapeutic uses. In Ethiopia, honeys are used traditionally to treat wounds, respiratory infections and diarrhoea. Recent increase of drug resistant bacteria against the existing antibiotics forced investigators to search for alternative natural remedies and evaluate their potential use on scientific bases. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the antibacterial effects of different types of honeys in Ethiopia which are used traditionally to treat different types of respiratory and gastrointestinal infections.MethodsMueller Hinton agar (70191) diffusion and nutrient broth culture medium assays were performed to determine susceptibility of Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922) and resistant clinical isolates (Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA), Escherichia coli(R) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (R), using honeys of Apis mellifera and stingless bees in northern and north western Ethiopia.ResultsHoney of the stingless bees produced the highest mean inhibition (22.27 ± 3.79 mm) compared to white honey (21.0 ± 2.7 mm) and yellow honey (18.0 ± 2.3 mm) at 50% (v/v) concentration on all the standard and resistant strains. Stingless bees honey was found to have Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of 6.25% (6.25 mg/ml) for 80% of the test organisms compared to 40% for white and yellow Apis mellifera honeys. All the honeys were found to have minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of 12.5% (12.5 mg/ml) against all the test organisms. Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923) was susceptible to amoxicillin, methicillin, kanamycine, tetracycline, and vancomycine standard antibiotic discs used for susceptibility tests. Similarly, Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922) was found susceptible for kanamycine, tetracycline and vancomycine. Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922) has not been tested for amoxicillin ampicillin and methicillin. The susceptibility tests performed against Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Escherichia coli (R) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (R) using three of methicillin, erythromycin, ampicillin, Penicillin and amoxicillin discs were resistant. But, these drug resistant strains were susceptible to antibacterial agents found in the honeys and inhibited from 16 mm to 20.33 mm.ConclusionsHoneys in Ethiopia can be used as therapeutic agents for drug resistant bacteria after pharmaceutical standardization and clinical trials.

Purpose. To evaluate antimicrobial effects of mixtures of Ethiopian honeys and ginger rhizome powder extracts on Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Escherichia coli (R), and Klebsiella pneumoniae (R). Methods. Agar diffusion and broth assays were performed to determine susceptibility of these standard and resistant clinical bacteria isolates using honey-ginger powder extract mixtures. Results. Honey-ginger powder extract mixtures produced the highest mean inhibition (25.62 mm ± 2.55) compared to the use of honeys (21.63 mm ± 3.30) or ginger extracts (19.23 mm ± 3.42) individually. The ranges of inhibitions produced by honey-ginger extract mixtures on susceptible test organisms (26–30 mm) and resistant strains (range: 19–27 mm) were higher compared to 7–22 mm and 0–14 mm by standard antibiotic discs. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of mixture of honeys-ginger extracts were 6.25% (0.625 v/mL) on the susceptible bacteria compared to 75% for resistant clinical isolates. Minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of honey-ginger extracts was 12.5% (0.125 g/mL) for all the test organisms. Conclusion. The result of this study showed that honey-ginger powder extract mixtures have the potential to serve as cheap source of antibacterial agents especially for the drug resistant bacteria strains.

Malaria cases are frequently recorded in the Ethiopian highlands even at altitudes above 2,000 m. The epidemiology of malaria in the Ethiopian highlands, and in particular the role of importation by human migration from the highly endemic lowlands is not well understood. We characterized the parasite population structure and genetic relatedness by sequencing 159 P. falciparum samples from Gondar and an additional 28 samples from Ziway using a highly multiplexed droplet digital PCR (ddPCR)-based amplicon deep sequencing method targeting 35 microhaplotypes and drug resistance loci. Diversity was moderate (mean HE: 0.54), and infection complexity was low (74.9% single clone infections). A significant percentage of infections shared genomic haplotypes, even across transmission seasons, indicating persistent local and focal transmission. Multiple clusters of clonal or near-clonal infections were identified, highlighting the overall high genetic relatedness. Frequently, infections from travelers were the earliest observed cases, suggesting that parasites may have been imported and then transmitted locally. We observed population structure between Gondar and Ziway, although some haplotypes were shared between sites. 31.1% of infections carried pfhrp2 deletions and 84.4% pfhrp3 deletions, and 28.7% pfhrp2/pfhrp3 double deletions. Parasites with pfhrp2/3 deletions and wild-type parasites were genetically distinct. Mutations associated with resistance to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine and lumefantrine were observed at near-fixation, but no mutations in pfk13 were found. In conclusion, genomic data corroborates local transmission and the importance of intensified control in the Ethiopian highlands.

Background Currently, the district-level malaria transmission stratification has indicated the Northern, Northwestern, Southern, and rift valley lowland and surrounding highland districts are almost entirely classified as high or moderate malaria transmission zones. Conducting malaria surveillance to track, test, and treat all malaria cases cannot be implemented in Ethiopia in the current situation. Objective To show malaria transmission dynamics in different health facilities located from 1800 to 2772 m altitudes during 2018–2021 in Northwest Ethiopia. Methods A total of 3.5 years (2018–2021) retrospective confirmed and treated malaria cases in 43 kebeles health posts and clinics in Gondar Zuria district were used for analysis. Result The total malaria count was 5893 for 2019 compared to 31, 550 for 2020 and 33, 248 for 2021. Mean monthly malaria incidence/1000 people in 2019 was 2.39 ± 5.4 and increased to 10.64 ± 16.99 in 2020 and 11.19 ± 16.59 in 2021. Annual malaria incidence increased from 24 cases/1000 people in 2019 to 139.08 cases/1000 people in 2021 and is alarming danger in malaria elimination program in the district or the country as a whole. Poisson and Negative binomial regressions models indicated 5.78- and 5.26-fold malaria cases increase, respectively, in 2021 compared to 2019. The sudden increase in malaria incidences (counts) in 2020 and 2021 coincided with the interruption of residual insecticide application in Gondar Zuria district during the transition period towards the malaria pre-elimination stage implicating the role of malaria control tools in suppressing transmission. Study on climate variability also indicated that the rainfall variability in different months might have also favored high malaria transmission in 2020 and 2021 compared to 2019. Thus, in addition to re-starting the use of malaria control tools, giving attention to climate anomalies (variability) that favors malaria transmission, for prompt interventional actions, is required. The malaria elimination program in Ethiopia might have not reached a pre-elimination stage as malaria cases per 1000 people have not decreased below five in the majority of Ethiopian districts. Tracing, confirming, and treating individual cases to stop further transmission is, almost, impossible. In a situation like this, the Ethiopian malaria elimination program should work intensively towards understanding malaria epidemiology at the district level to re-design a localized malaria control strategy. The renewed malaria control program should also consider altitudes above 2000 m.