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This study was conducted on a total of 776 goats (part of Central highland goat breeds of Ethiopia), 306 from Boset district of Oromia region and 470 were from Minjar Shenkora district of Amhara region. A format developed by using food and agriculture organization discerption list was used for recording of morphological traits, bodyweight and linear body measurements. Both qualitative and quantitative traits were recorded from randomly sampled mature goats and the data were analyzed using SAS software. The goat type in the study area was characterized by a higher proportion of plain coat color patterns (62.5). Ingeneral, the majority (98.4%) of the studied goats were horned and characterized by backward orientation (67%) with a straight shape (49.3%). They presented a concave facial profile (73.8%), slop up toward the rump back profile (66.2%), no wattle (99.6%), no toggle (90.7%), no ruff (85.9%) and no beard (57.3%). The location had a significant effect on body weight and some other linear body measurements. Traits like body length, rump length, horn length, head length, head width and shin circumference were significantly higher in Boset district. In contrast, rump width and cannon bone length were significantly lower. The mean body weight of male goats in Boset and Minjar Shenkora district were 30.5±1.05 kg with a range of 16 to 47 and 27.5±0.56 with a range of 13 to 57, respectively. While for female counterpart mean body weights (kg) were 28.4±0.35 with a range of 17 to 45 for Boset and 27.5±0.33 with a range 15 to 57 for Minjar Shenkora district. Heart girth had the highest correlation with body weight in both sexes and shoulder width in Boset male goats. The wider variation in most quantitative measurement traits would open an opportunity for further improvement, conservation and utilization work.

Eighteen quantitative measurements and fourteen qualitative characteristics taken from 306 adult sheep (57 rams and 249 ewes) were used to characterize sheep populations of district, Ethiopia. Most traits showed significant variation by zone, sex and age groups with higher values generally recorded for rams as compared to ewes. Middle age group animals displayed highest values for several traits, reflecting the optimal production age. zone affected ewes more than rams. The highland sheep height at withers, widest shoulder points and longest hair, indicative of adaptation to their environment. Qualitative characteristics of the studied sheep populations such as tail shape, plain coat color pattern, skin, hairy fiber and the absence of horn, toggle, ruff and beard suggest that they constitute a previously sheep breed. Tan coat color differentiated high and midland sheep from lowland sheep where white and brown colors were dominant. Canon bone length, height at withers and tail length were the three most important variables used in discriminating the sheep populations. On average 66% of the animals could be classified into their respective zone. Our data suggest that highland sheep populations are distantly related to lowland sheep, while midland sheep are more closely related to lowland sheep. It can be concluded that breeding programs specific to each zone need to be designed for sustainable utilization and conservation of the studied sheep populations. Furthermore, molecular based studies might allow further characterization of Ethiopian sheep breeds.

The paper studies the effects of technology shocks on the creation and destruction of firms. Using US data and a VAR model the paper finds Schumpeterian creative destruction for investment-specific technology shocks. A positive investment-specific technology shock increases the number of firms opening, but also leads to a higher number of firms closing. In contrast, labour-neutral technology shocks also benefit old firms. An increase in overall productivity leads to an increase in the number of new firms and a drop in the number of failures. Both margins contribute to an increase in the number of firms in the economy. A medium-scale DSGE model with endogenous entry and exit that is that is augmented with additional features is able to capture these stylised facts.

Melak A, Hailu A, Assefa A, Aseged T, Sinkie S, Tsion S. 2021. Characterization of the production system and breeding practices of sheep producers in Tahtay Maychew District, Northern Ethiopia. Intl J Trop Drylands 5: 5-11. Sheep rearing plays an important role in the livelihoods of rural people in Ethiopia, yet limited information is available regarding the management system of the sheep. The study was conducted in Tahtay Maychew district of the central zone of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. The objective of the study was to understand the sheep production system, the breeding practices, selection criteria, and sheep production constraints to identify sheep farming practices about future production strategies in the study area. A total of 70 households from 2 kebeles (lower administrative structure) were selected purposively based on sheep population and production potential and accessibility. Data was collected through semi-structured questionnaires, focus group discussions, and key informants. An index was calculated to provide an overall ranking of the purpose of keeping sheep, culling rams and ewe, according to the formula: Index = ? of [3 for rank 1 + 2 for rank 2 + 1 for rank 3]. It is concluded that both female and male sheep are maintained mainly for income generation followed by breeding. A variable that was given a higher priority in selecting breeding males and females was body size. Disease, feed shortage, lack of grazing, and predators are the major constraints of sheep production mentioned in the study area. Therefore, addressing these constraints is important to design a successful genetic improvement scheme in the area for sheep.

Background Dengue fever is an arthropod vector-borne disease transmitted to humans by infected Aedes mosquitoes. Ethiopia has a favorable ecology for arthropods and report high burden of acute febrile illnesses. However, the contribution of arboviral infections to the burden of acute febrile illnesses is barely known. In this study the seropositivity to dengue virus infection and associated risk factors were assessed in Arba Minch districts, southern Ethiopia. Methods An institution based cross-sectional study was conducted in a consecutive group of 529 acute febrile patients between May to August 2016. Socio-demographic data, residence place and clinical signs and symptoms were collected using structured questionnaires. Sera were tested for anti-dengue IgG and IgM using Euroimmune indirect immunofluorescent assay. Data analysis was done using SPSS V-20 (IBM Corp, 2012). P-value Result Seropositivity was 25.1% (133/529) and 8.1% (43/529) for anti- IgG and IgM respectively. Conclusion The high IgM prevalence detected indicate the probability of active transmission with a potential of public health significance that calls for a proactive follow up of the communities in the study area to forecast and avert the risk.

Melak A, Belayhun T, Kefyalew E, Hailu A, Mustefa A, Assefa A. 2020. Farmers' willingness to pay for Sinar donkey conservation in selected districts of Metekel and Assosa zones, northwest Ethiopia: a contingent valuation study. Biodiversitas 21: 3373-3379. A survey was conducted through single field visits and interviews with 160 respondents in selected districts of Assosa and Metekel Zones, Northwestern Ethiopia, to elicit farmers' willingness to pay for Sinar donkey conservation. Two districts namely Guba and Sherkole were purposively selected from the zones based on the availability of Sinar donkey breeds. Eight representative kebeles were selected from the two districts. A total of 160 households (each district 80 households) were selected randomly. Structured and semi-structured questionnaires were prepared to collect data on socio-economic and farming system characteristics. Descriptive statistics were employed to summarize data and average means were compared using SPSS version 23.0 software. Logistic regression was applied to see the effect of independent variables on the dependent variable. The contingent valuation method was used to know farmers' willingness to pay for conservation of the Sinar donkey breed. The average willingness to pay for the conservation was 98.25 Ethiopian Birr or 3.265US dollars for the conservation program per household per annum. The cash income of the respondents influenced the willingness to pay for the conservation program. This study supports the view that the economic valuation of donkey genetic resources can assist policymakers in setting conservation priorities.

Thirteen qualitative and six morphometric variables on a total of 651 adult cattle (76 oxen and 575 cows) from four purposively selected districts were recorded to characterize the cattle populations in and around the breeding tract of Raya cattle. General linear model, frequency, and multivariate analysis procedures of Statistical Analysis Software (SAS 9.0) were used to analyze the data by splitting and merging the sexes. Higher measurement values for oxen were recorded over the cows. Location affects the studied traits significantly. The cattle population from Habru district was significantly differentiated from Raya cattle. Among the districts of Raya cattle, lowest values for most of the linear measurements were observed in Kobo district. Majority of the Raya cattle possess upright, lyre-shaped horn, small, and erected hump placed at the cervical thoracic position, large dewlap, naval flap, and perpetual sheath sizes and dominantly dark red body color with uniform body color pattern. Stepwise discriminant function analysis reveals horn length, ear length, and height at wither were the first three most important morphometric variables used in discriminating the cattle populations. Canonical discrimination analysis showed that the first canonical structure explains majority (94.13%) of the total variation with eigenvalue of 2.07 and canonical correlation of 82.14%. Discriminant function analysis showed the classification of an average 61% of the studied animals into their respective districts. Pairwise Mahalanobis distances between populations from different districts were found to be highly significant. Habru cattle population relates distantly from Raya cattle except its short distance with Kobo district. The shortest distance was observed between Raya cattle of Alamata and Raya Azebo districts. In conclusion, cattle from Alamata, Raya Azebo, and Kobo districts can be categorized as Raya cattle, while strong similarities between the first two districts in showing the real characteristics and morphology of Raya cattle were also revealed.

Research and development (R&D) partnerships involve investigative activities that may result in new discoveries and innovations that are critical for the technological advancement of the engineerin...

espanolEn abril de 2013 se llevo a cabo un estudio exploratorio en la zona de Metekel, en el Noroeste de Etiopia, para caracterizar fenotipicamente las poblaciones de gallinas autoctonas. Se midieron 8 caracteres cuantitativos y 16 cualitativos sobre una muestra total de 69 machos y 244 hembras. El muestreo incluyo tres distritos, representativos de diferentes zonas agroecologicas. El coeficiente de variacion de los parametros cuantitativos vario de 6,38 por ciento a 52,37 por ciento en las muestras de machos y de 4,59 por ciento a 21,4 por ciento en las muestras de hembras. Los tests chi-cuadrado para el color del plumaje del cuello, el color de las orejillas y la variante esqueletica fueron altamente significativos (χ2 Palabras clave: analisis multivariantes, rasgos morfologicos, gallinas autoctonas, Metekel, Noroeste de Etiopia francaisDans la zone de Metekel, au Nord-Ouest de l’Ethiopie, une etude d’exploration a ete menee en avril 2013 pour caracteriser phenotypiquement les populations de poules indigenes. Huit caracteres quantitatifs et seize caracteres qualitatifs ont ete mesures sur un echantillon total de 69 mâles et 244 femelles. L’echantillonnage s’est fait sur trois districts representant differentes zones agro-ecologiques. Le coefficient de variation des parametres quantitatifs a varie de 6,38 pour cent a 52,37 pour cent chez les mâles et de 4,59 pour cent a 21,4 pour cent chez les femelles. Les tests du khi-carre pour la couleur du plumage du cou, la couleur des oreillons et le type squelettique ont ete tres significatifs (χ2 Mots-cles: analyses multivariees, traits morphologiques, poules indigenes, Metekel, Nord-Ouest de l’Ethiopie EnglishAn exploratory survey to phenotypically characterize indigenous chicken populations was carried out in Metekel zone of Northwestern Ethiopia in April 2013. A total of 69 males and 244 females were sampled to record their qualitative and quantitative traits. Eight quantitative and 16 qualitative variables were measured. Sampling included three districts representing different agroecological zones. Coefficient of variation for quantitative variables ranged from 6.38 to 52.37 percent in male sample populations and 4.59–21.4 percent in females. The chi-square tests for plumage colour of the neck, ear lobe colour and skeletal variant type were highly significant (χ2 Keywords: indigenous chicken, morphological traits, multivariate analyses, Metekel, Northwestern Ethiopia

Purpose Despite long-term, sustained research and industry practice, predicting construction labour productivity (CLP) using existing factor and activity modelling approaches remains a challenge. The purpose of this paper is to first demonstrate the limited usefulness of activity models and then to propose a system model approach that integrates factor and activity models for better prediction of CLP. Design/methodology/approach The system model parameters – comprising factors and practices – and work sampling proportions (WSPs) were identified from literature. Field data were collected from 11 projects over a span of 29 months. Activity models based on the relationship between CLP and WSPs were created, and their validity was tested using regression analysis for eight activities in the concreting, electrical and shutdown categories. The proposed system model was developed for concreting activity using the key influencing parameters in conjunction with WSPs. Findings The results of the regression analysis indicate that WSPs, like direct work, are not significantly correlated to CLP and fail to explain its variance. Evaluation of the system model approach for the concreting activity showed improved CLP prediction as compared to existing approaches. Research limitations/implications The system model was tested for concreting activity using data collected from six projects; however, further investigation into the model’s accuracy and efficacy using data collected from other labour-intensive activities is suggested. Originality/value This research establishes the role of WSPs in CLP modelling, and develops a system modelling approach to assist researchers and practitioners in the analysis of productivity-influencing parameters together with WSPs.

Construction labor productivity (CLP) is one of the most studied areas in the construction research field, and several context-specific predictive models have been developed. However, CLP model development remains a challenge, as the complex impact of multiple subjective and objective influencing variables have to be examined in various project contexts while dealing with limited data availability. On the other hand, lack of a framework for adapting existing or original models from one context to other contexts limits the possibility of reusing existing models. Such challenges are addressed in this paper through the development of a context adaptation framework. The framework is used to transfer the knowledge represented in fuzzy inference (FIS) based CLP models from one context to another, by using linear and nonlinear evolutionary based transformation of the membership functions combined with sensitivity analysis of fuzzy operators and defuzzification methods. Using four context-specific CLP models developed for concreting activity under industrial, warehouse, high-rise, and institutional building project contexts, the framework was implemented, and the prediction capability of the adapted models was evaluated based on their prediction similarity with the original models. The results showed that linearly adapted CLP models for industrial and institutional contexts and nonlinearly adapted CLP models for warehouse and high-rise contexts provide a similar prediction capability with the original models. The proposed context adaptation framework and findings from this paper address the limitations in past context adaptation research by examining a practical context-sensitive application problem and further examining the role of fuzzy operators and defuzzification methods. The findings assist researchers and industry practitioners to take full advantage of existing FIS-based models in the study of new contexts, for which data availability might be limited.

Construction labor productivity (CLP) is affected by numerous context-sensitive influencing variables made up of subjective and objective factors, practices, and work sampling proportions (WSPs), which cause complex variability. Modeling CLP is challenging because for any given context, the complex impacts of multiple variables have to be considered simultaneously, without sacrificing accuracy or interpretability. Such challenges are addressed in this paper through the development of a methodology that explicitly represents context in CLP modeling and optimizes context-specific CLP models in order to improve accuracy. In addition, interpretable, fuzzy inference system (FIS)–based, and context-specific CLP models have been developed for the purpose of modeling concrete pouring activity. The performance of the context-specific CLP models is then compared with a generic CLP model, which is developed by combining the context-specific data sets. The results of the investigation showed that the key vari...

An unbalanced version of a Transportation Problem (TP) is one which occurs due to either supply or demand imbalance. Its fundamental objective is to minimize the cost of shipment while distributing goods or products from several origins (factories) to various destinations (warehouses). However, this objective is to be achieved by transforming the problem in to a balanced type. For supply imbalance problem i.e. the problem with total supply greater than total demand, we usually add a fictitious sink in order to receive excess of supply. In case when total demand is greater than total supply, i.e. for demand imbalance problem, a fictitious source is usually introduced so as to satisfy the unfilled demand. Moreover, the cost of transportation to or from fictitious sink/fictitious source is assumed to be zero as units are not really transported. Unlike this approach, some other techniques have also come in to being to balance the problem without the need to have fictitious sinks or sources. Once it is balanced, the problem can be solved by simplex method-a well- known but tedious technique for dealing with any linear programming. A special procedure for solving a transportation problem is the so called “transportation method” which requires much less effort than the simplex algorithm. In this thesis work, solution approaches of an unbalanced transportation problem have been reviewed and a New Alternate Method (NAM) for unbalanced transportation problems is proposed. Our approach has shown an efficient performance over the existing methods.

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.

objective Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in north-west Ethiopia is causing an overwhelming case load among adult migrant workers that masked the disease burden in children. This study describes the clinical profile and explores comorbidities in paediatric VL patients. methods A prospective study at two hospitals in this region (Gondar and Humera) was conducted in a year period, 2011–2012. The clinical manifestations and comorbidities such as malnutrition, intestinal parasitosis and vitamin D deficiency and HIV infection were assessed, and treatment outcomes noted. results A total of 122 children with VL were detected during the study period with median age of 8.5 years (IQR 5–12 years); 23% were under 5 years. Eighty-five (69.7%) cases were male. The clinical manifestations were similar to the adult patients. High rates of malnutrition, intestinal parasitosis (47.5%) and hypovitaminosis D (56.4%) were detected. The proportion of stunting and wasting was 63% and 22.2% in children aged under five years, and 50.5% and 75.9% in 5-year and older children, respectively, using WHO standard growth curves. Only one child had HIV infection. In 95% of the cases, sodium stibogluconate (20 mg/kg/day for 30 days) was used for treatment. The treatment success rate at end of therapy was 98.3%, but the definitive outcome at 6 months could not be determined because of a high loss to follow-up (80.2%). conclusion While HIV co-infection was rare, malnutrition, intestinal parasitosis and vitamin D deficiency were frequent indicating the need for further research on their role in the pathophysiology. Meanwhile, systematic assessment and management of malnutrition and intestinal parasitosis in VL programmes is recommended.

Construction labor productivity remains of great importance due its direct effect on project costs. Numerous parameters (factors and practices) that critically affect labor productivity have been identified in past studies through expert knowledge obtained from surveys. The objective of this paper is to explore whether there is a gap in experts’ knowledge in identifying the critical parameters by comparing their perspectives to the results of data-driven analysis of the parameters and labor productivity field data. This paper presents a methodology for identifying critical parameters using both a factor survey and a data-driven approach. The factor survey approach ranks the critical parameters based on the responses of both project management and trade level personnel on a project. The data-driven approach ranks the parameters based on their degree of influence on productivity through filter feature selection on data collected from the actual project. Results of the comparison of factor rankings from the project management perspective, trade perspective, and data-driven approach indicate a major discrepancy between the expert perspectives and the data-driven results, suggesting a need for verification of expert-based results with additional field studies of factors affecting labor productivity.

Epidemic dropsy results from ingestion of argemone oil contaminated food staffs. The oil from Argemone Mexican seeds contains toxic alkaloids called sanguinarine and dehydrosangunarine. These cause wide spread capillary dilatation, proliferation and leakages. This leads to oedema, hypovolemia and hypotension.To describe the socio-demographic and clinical manifestations of the patients affected with epidemic dropsy in Tikur Anbessa specialized Hospital (TASH).A case series study was conducted in an outbreak with unusual cases which was later diagnosed to be epidemic dropsy. Clinical evaluation of suspects was done and optimal therapy given for the complications detected and information was filled in structured format by medical residents and medial chart records review was made for occurrence of new complications in the end of 9 months.A total of 164 patients were seen at TASH from 26 households, in 8 sub-cities of Addis Ababa. A wide range of age group was affected with 70% from 16 to 40 years of age. There was no case among less than 5 years of age. Females were affected more than threefold as compared to males. All the patients manifested with bilateral leg swelling and pitting oedema. It was tender in 50 (30.4%) of them while 43 (26.2%) had erythema. Tachycardia was the next common manifestation occurring in 135 (82.3%), followed by cough in 123 (75%), anaemia in 59 (36%), headache in 58 (35.4%), shortness of breathing in 52 (31.2%), hair loss in 44 (26.8%) and respiratory distress in 35 (21.3%). Abdominal pain, hepatomegally, nausea and vomiting were also seen. There was abnormality in the chest X-ray of 31 (27.2%). Hair loss, tingling and burning extremities, difficulty of standing, hyperpigmentation, pruritic rash and eye symptoms were observed lately during follow up. Five of the patients died while in hospital care due to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).The commonest clinical manifestation in our patients is bilateral leg swelling which is similar to other outbreaks of epidemic dropsy elsewhere. The mortality rate is also comparable with other series but all cases died by ARDS in our series which is unusual in other reports. As this is the first reported epidemics in Ethiopia the findings will create awareness of clinical features of epidemic dropsy among clinicians, and therefore, helps for diagnoses of similar problems in the future.

Construction labour productivity is a cost efficiency measure of crews in producing outputs usually at an activity level. The relationship between the factors affecting the efficiency of crews and the achieved labour productivity is being studied using various stand-alone modeling approaches like regression analysis, neural networks, and fuzzy logic-based expert systems. However, the developed models suit only a specific context and most importantly, a method for transferring and generalizing the knowledge captured in the various models has not yet been fully developed. This paper presents the application of a granular fuzzy modeling approach for transferring captured knowledge and the process of developing a granular generalized construction labour productivity model having an improved prediction capability. The granular fuzzy model abstracts three construction productivity models dealing with industrial welding activities using a case-based reasoning approach on clusters of the respective model input data prototypes. The performance of the model is evaluated using coverage and specificity plots and different model parameters are optimized.

Recent trends indicate that fuzzy techniques (fuzzy set theory, fuzzy logic, and fuzzy hybrid models) have found increased application in the construction domain, even more so in the last half decade. This paper presents the application of fuzzy expert models and fuzzy hybrid concepts in modeling construction labour productivity, which is critical information for scheduling and estimating construction projects. The fuzzy expert model addresses both subjective and objective factors affecting labour productivity of two common industrial construction processes: rigging and welding pipe. The resulting model matched highly with respect to linguistic terms; however, the numerical match was low, indicating the need to have fuzzy hybrid models to improve the predictive ability of the fuzzy expert model. Further research is underway to combine the strengths of fuzzy logic in addressing subjective and linguistic evaluations of labourer performance with the strengths of other artificial intelligence methods, such as neural networks, in training and calibrating the fuzzy model to properly address the context variables, as well as the principal variables.

Work sampling has been used to indirectly measure crew productivity. Although favoured for being less costly, easy to adopt, and able to provide quick information, previous work sampling studies have not gone beyond identifying the direct, support, and delay proportions of activities to provide a reasonable estimation of productivity. Research into identifying a relationship between work sampling results and productivity has been limited, and an approach to identify the most productive proportion of direct and support activities for different trades has not been developed. This paper proposes a research framework for crew-based work sampling, supplemented by foreman delay surveys and craftsman questionnaires, to establish a relationship between work sampling and productivity, and to identify the effective proportions of direct and support activities for different trades. The paper describes the development of this framework and illustrates the analysis involved by using case study data. Ultimately, this framework will be used to develop a crew-level productivity analysis model, based on subjective and objective factor modeling, supplemented by work study methods, including work sampling.

CIyptococcal meningitis is an important opportunistic funimgal infection that became very common after the era of HIV infection.To determine the magnitude of Clyptococcal meningitis and study the clinical pattern among inpatients with HV infection at Gondar Hospital.A descriptive study was done among ELISA confirmed admitted HIV patients. Clinically suspected cases of meningitis underwent lumbar puncture and cerebrospinal fluid analysis. The clinical profile and outcomes of the confirmed Cryptococcal meningitis cases were described.Among 375 HIV serology positive patients 31 were confirmed to have Cryptococcal meningitis. Their median age was 29 years (range 16-64); and 22 were males. The major manifestation at presentation included headache and fever each in 90% malaise (65%), stiffness of the neck (48%), altered Mentation (32%) and nausea and vomiting (32%), photophobia (23%) and seizure (3.6%). Median duration of illness was 16 days; ranging from 1-40 days. Temperature was above 38.4 degreees C in 80%. Meningial signs were observed in 32% altered Mentation was noted in 29% and focal neurologic deficit in 19% Cerebrospinal fluid examination revealed visually increased pressure (measured opening pressure200 mmH2O in six patients) in 81% glucose50 mg/dl (50-70 mg/ dl) in 55% Protein40 mg/dl (15-40 mg/dl) in 35% leukocytes count20/mm3 (poor prognostic sign) in 58% Indian ink staining detected encapsulated yeasts in 71% C. neoformans was cultivated in 90% of sample. Highest case fatality rate of the disease was observed during the pre HAART era.Cryptococcal Meningitis is common among patients with immune-suppression. It could be the initial manifestation of HIV infection and should be suspected in any potential HIV infected patient with neurological symptoms especially headache and fever. As it has highest case fatality rate, early diagnosis and prompt therapy is strongly recommended Better treatment options like boosting their immunity with HAART should also be investigated

Geospatial methods were used to study the associations of the environmental thermal-hydrological regime with leprosy prevalence in the Oromia and Amhara regions of Ethiopia. Prediction models were developed that indicated leprosy prevalence was related to: (i) long-term normal climate grid data on temperature and moisture balance (rain/potential evapo-transpiration); (ii) satellite surveillance data on the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and daytime earth surface temperature (Tmax) from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR); and (iii) a Genetic Algorithm Rule-Set Prediction (GARP) model based on NDVI and Tmax data in relation to leprosy prevalence data. Our results suggest that vertical transmission is not the only means of acquiring leprosy and support earlier reports that a major factor that governs transmission of leprosy is the viability of Mycobacterium leprae outside the human body which is related to the thermal-hydrologic regime of the environment.