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BackgroundHepatitis E is an enteric and zoonotic disease caused by hepatitis E virus (HEV) that is mainly transmitted via the faecal-oral route through contaminated food or the environment. The virus is an emerging infectious agent causing acute human infection worldwide. A high seroprevalence of the disease was reported in pregnant women in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, raising significant public health concern. The presence of HEV specific antibodies were also reported in dromedary camels in the country; however, the infectious virus and/or the viral genome have not been demonstrated to date in animal samples.MethodsTo address this gap, a total of 95 faecal samples collected from both apparently healthy pigs of uncharacterised types (50 samples) in Burayu and Addis Ababa areas and camels (Camelus dromedarius, 45 samples) in west Hararghe were screened for the presence of HEV genome using universal primers in a fully nested reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (nRT-PCR). The protocol is capable of detecting HEV in faecal samples from both pigs and camels.ResultsThe nRT-PCR detected HEV genes in six (12%) pig faecal samples and one camel sample (2.2%). Therefore, the results indicate that HEV is circulating in both pigs and camels in Ethiopia and these animals and their products could serve as a potential source of infection for humans.ConclusionThe detection of HEV in both animals could raise another concern regarding its public health importance as both animals’ meat and camel milk are consumed in the country. Further studies to determine the prevalence and distribution of the virus in different animals and their products, water bodies, food chain, and vegetables are warranted, along with viral gene sequencing for detailed genetic characterisation of the isolates circulating in the country. This information is critically important to design and institute appropriate control and/or preventive measures.

Rotavirus is a major pathogen responsible for diarrheal disease in calves, resulting in loss of productivity and economy of farmers. However, various facets of diarrheal disease caused by rotavirus in calves in the world are inadequately understood, considering that diarrheal disease caused by rotavirus is a vital health problem in calves that interrupts production benefits with reduced weight gain and increased mortality, and its potential for zoonotic spread. The pathological changes made by rotavirus are almost exclusively limited to the small intestine that leads to diarrhea. It is environmentally distributed worldwide and was extensively studied. Reassortment is one of the important mechanisms for generating genetic diversity of rotaviruses and eventually for viral evolution. So, the primary strategy is to reduce the burden of rotavirus infections by practicing early colostrum’s feeding in newborn calves, using vaccine, and improving livestock management. Rotaviruses have a wide host range, infecting many animal species as well as humans. As it was found that certain animal rotavirus strains had antigenic similarities to some human strains, this may be an indication for an animal to play a role as a source of rotavirus infection in humans. Groups A to C have been shown to infect both humans and animals. The most commonly detected strains in both human and animals are G2, G3, G4, and G9, P [6]. Therefore, this review was made to get overview epidemiology status and zoonotic importance of bovine rotavirus.

A cross-sectional study was conducted to isolate and identify bacterial species from the respiratory tract of apparently healthy and pneumonic camels in Asayita and Dubti woredas in the Afar Region, Ethiopia. From a total of 74 lung tissue and 74 tracheal swab samples Staphylococcus aureus, 16.3%, Streptococcus equi subsp. equi, 13.0%, and Pasteurella multocida, 10.9%, were dominant isolates from pneumonic lungs; Escherichia coli, 12.7%, Proteus species, 10.9%, and Klebsiella pneumoniae, 9.1%, were the majority in the normal lungs. The majority of the isolates colonized both anatomical sites investigated. There was a statistically significant association between the health status of the camels as well as the anatomical site studied with the isolation rates of the major respiratory pathogens (p

Background: Coronavirus and Rotavirus are most commonly associated etiologies for calves’ diarrhea resulting in loss of productivity and economy of farmers. However, various facets of diarrheal disease caused by coronavirus and rotavirus in calves in Ethiopia are inadequately understood. A cross sectional study was conducted with the aim of isolation and molecular characterization of coronavirus and rotavirus from calves in central part of Oromia (Bishoftu, Sebata, Holeta and Addis Ababa), Ethiopia from November 2018 to May 2019. The four study areas were purposively selected and fecal samples were collected by simple random sampling for diagnosis of coronavirus and rotavirus infection by using antigen detection Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (Ag-ELISA) kit. In addition, this study was carried out to have insight in prevalence and associated risk factors of coronavirus and rotavirus infection in calves. Result: During the study 83 diarrheic and 162 non-diarrheic fecal samples collected from calves less than 4 weeks of age were screened for coronavirus and rotavirus. Of the 83 diarrheic samples, 1 sample (1.2%) was positive for coronavirus antigen (Ag) and 6 samples (7.2%) were found to be positive for rotavirus antigen (Ag) by Ag-ELISA. All the non-diarrheic samples were negative for both coronavirus and rotavirus Ag. The overall prevalence of coronavirus and rotavirus infection in calves were estimated as 0.4% (1/245) and 2.45% (6/245) respectively. All samples (7) of ELISA test positive of both coronavirus and rotavirus were propagated in Madin Darby bovine kidney cells (MDBK). After 3 subsequent passages, progressive cytopathic effect (CPE) i.e. rounding, detachment as well as destruction of mono-layer cell of five sample (1 sample of coronavirus and 4 sample of rotavirus) (71.4%) were observed. At the molecular stage, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique was used to determine the presence of coronavirus and rotavirus nucleic acid by using specific primers. The 5 samples that were coronavirus and rotavirus antigen positive by ELISA and develop CPE on cell culture were also positive on RT-PCR technique. Infection prevalence peaked have been obtained at 1st and 2nd weeks of age in male calves. Conclusion: Diarrheal disease caused by coronavirus and rotavirus has a great health problem in calves that interrupts production benefits with reduced weight gain and increased mortality, and its potential for zoonotic spread. So the present findings show coronavirus and rotavirus infection in calves in Ethiopia that needs to be addressed by practicing early colostrums feeding in newborn calves, using vaccine, or improving livestock management.

Toxoplasmosis is one of the most prevalent parasitic infections of medical and veterinary importance. A cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2013 to January 2014 to estimate the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in camels from four districts of Borana zone, Southern Oromia, Ethiopia. In addition, a questionnaire survey was administered to 124 pastoralists to identify possible risk factors and to assess the awareness level of pastoral communities about toxoplasmosis. A total of 396 serum samples were examined for anti-Toxoplasma IgG antibodies using the direct agglutination test (DAT). Fisher's exact test and logistic regression were used for data analysis. An overall seroprevalence of 8.33 % (95 % confidence interval [CI] 5.60 %, 11.07 %) at animal-level and 37.5 % (95 % CI: 20.1 %, 57.4 %) at herd-level was found. The seroprevalence was significantly high in Moyale district (23.07 %) followed by Yabello (7.20 %), Dirre (3.77 %), and Arero (0.0 %) districts (P 0.001). Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that the likelihood of acquiring T. gondii infection was significantly higher in camels of Moyale district (adjusted OR = 5.89, 95 % CI 2.15, 16.12; P = 0.001) than Dirre district, in camels of8 years old (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 4.95, 95 % CI 1.68, 14.55; P = 0.004) than camels of ≤4 years old. There was no significant association between herd-level seroprevalence of T. gondii infection and abortion history, herd size, and presence of domestic cats and wild felids (P 0.05). The majority of interviewees were uneducated (82.25 %), and all had no knowledge of toxoplasmosis. All camel herders drink raw camel milk but consume cooked meat (90.32 %). Of the interviewees, 93.06 % are aware about soil-eating habit of camels and provide salt supplement for their camels. Majority of the respondents practice improper disposal of aborted materials (throw along the way) (88.70 %), and 73 % of the study participants do not wash their hands after handling aborted fetus. The results of the present study confirm relatively lower prevalence of T. gondii infection in camels reared in Borana zone. Age and study district are significant predictors of T. gondii seropositivity. The vast majorities of interviewed pastoralists were uneducated and practice poor biosecurity measures to prevent diseases. Education of pastoralists about biosecurity measures to prevent toxoplasmosis and further studies are warranted to unravel the economic and public health consequences of T. gondii infection.

Serological surveys were performed on Ethiopian camels with a history of abortion to investigate the presence of antibodies against viruses that infect animals classified in the order Artiodactyla. In 2013, 120 serum samples were collected from camels in various parts of Ethiopia. Several viruses related to abortion in ruminants were prevalent. In particular, antibodies against bluetongue virus, were detected at a high rate (76.7% of samples). Additionally, antibodies against Akabane virus and Japanese encephalitis virus were also detected in samples from more than 40% of the camels; however, their antibody titers were relatively low.

Background Ethiopian livestock production and productivity is still very low due to widespread of diseases. Among the diseases, foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is an extremely contagious and acute viral disease that causes significant economic problems in the country. A cross sectional study design was conducted from September 2015 to May 2016 to isolate and characterize FMD virus from outbreak cases; determine the sero-prevalence of antibodies against FMD virus (FMDV), and assess potential risk factors associated with sero-prevalence of the disease in selected areas of central Ethiopia. A multistage sampling technique was employed to select the study animals. Isolated viruses were characterized by antigen ELISA (IZLER, Brescia, Italy) and by genetic analysis of the sequence of the viral protein 1 (VP1). Sero-prevalence was determined using an ELISA for antibodies against non-structural proteins of FMDV based on the 3ABC proteins (ID Screen® FMD NSP Competition, ID-VET, Grabels, France). Risk factors for sero-prevalence of antibodies against FMD virus was investigated using logistic regression analysis. Result From outbreak investigation, 28.8% (n = 378) cattle showed signs and lesions suggestive of FMD and 34 samples were subjected to virus isolation. Twenty eight of these cultures exhibited cytopathic effect (CPE) and were serotyped as O, A and SAT 2 FMD viruses. One A and two SAT 2 isolates named A-ETH-19-2015, SAT 2-ETH-18-2015 and SAT 2-ETH-20-2015 were further characterized by phylogenetic analysis. The overall sero-prevalence of antibodies against non-structural proteins of FMDV was 24.2% (n = 574). Cattle herds with crossbreed cattle, with older cattle (> 2 years), and kept together with small ruminants had higher sero-prevalences of antibodies against FMDV (p

Epitopes on the surface of the foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) capsid have been identified by monoclonal antibody (mAb) escape mutant studies leading to the designation of four antigenic sites in serotype A FMDV. Previous work focused on viruses isolated mainly from Asia, Europe and Latin America. In this study we report on the prediction of epitopes in African serotype A FMDVs and testing of selected epitopes using reverse genetics. Twenty-four capsid amino acid residues were predicted to be of antigenic significance by analysing the capsid sequences (n = 56) using in silico methods, and six residues by correlating capsid sequence with serum–virus neutralization data. The predicted residues were distributed on the surface-exposed capsid regions, VP1–VP3. The significance of residue changes at eight of the predicted epitopes was tested by site-directed mutagenesis using a cDNA clone resulting in the generation of 12 mutant viruses involving seven sites. The effect of the amino acid substitutions on the antigenic nature of the virus was assessed by virus neutralization (VN) test. Mutations at four different positions, namely VP1-43, VP1-45, VP2-191 and VP3-132, led to significant reduction in VN titre (P value = 0.05, 0.05, 0.001 and 0.05, respectively). This is the first time, to our knowledge, that the antigenic regions encompassing amino acids VP1-43 to -45 (equivalent to antigenic site 3 in serotype O), VP2-191 and VP3-132 have been predicted as epitopes and evaluated serologically for serotype A FMDVs. This identifies novel capsid epitopes of recently circulating serotype A FMDVs in East Africa.