The occurrence of trematodes among ruminants and their snail vectors is a major concern across various agro-ecological regions of Ethiopia. Trematodes pose significant threats to animals, causing considerable economic losses and impacting public health. In this study, we have investigated 784 ruminant fecal samples, and 520 abattoir samples, alongside the collection and identification of snail vectors from various agro-ecological regions. Fecal examinations revealed Fasciola, Paramphistomum and Schistosoma species infected 20.5% (95% CI: 17.6, 23.8), 11.7% (95% CI: 9.6, 14.2), and 6.3% (95% CI: 4.1, 9.1) of the animals, respectively. The overall prevalence of trematodes among ruminants was 28.8% (95% CI: 25.7, 32.1%), with 6.0% (95% CI: 4.3, 7.7) showing mixed infections. Fasciola was more prevalent in Asela (26%) compared to Batu (19%) and Hawassa (11.5%), while a higher proportion of animals in Batu were infected with Paramphistomum. Schistosoma eggs were detected only in Batu (12.5%), but not in other areas. Sheep and cattle exhibited higher infection rates with Fasciola, Paramphistoma, and Schistosoma compared to goats. Significant associations were observed between trematode infections and risk factors including agro-ecology, animal species, body condition score, and deworming practices. About 20.8% and 22.7% of the slaughtered animals harbored Fasciola and Paramphistomum flukes, respectively, with a higher prevalence in Asela and Hawassa abattoirs compared to Batu abattoir. Additionally, a total of 278 snails were collected from the study areas and identified as lymnae natalensis, lymnae trancatula, Biomphalaria pffiferi, Biomphlaria sudanica, and Bulinus globosus. In conclusion, the study highlights the widespread occurrence of trematode infections, emphasizing the need for feasible control measures to mitigate their economic and public health impacts.

Within Ethiopia, there is a lack of information on the genetic relatedness of Salmonella from cattle, beef, and diarrheic patients and its potential transmission from cattle to humans through consumption of contaminated beef. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence and determine the serotypes, genetic relatedness, and antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella in cattle in two local slaughterhouses, in beef at retail shops, and in diarrheic patients in the only hospital in Bishoftu, Ethiopia. Salmonella was detected in 2.5% (6/240) of cattle samples, in 8.7% (11/127) of beef samples, and in 2.3% (5/216) of the diarrheic patients. Four Salmonella serotypes: Salmonella Typhimurium, Salmonella Eastbourne, Salmonella Saintpaul, and Salmonella Cotham were identified. Salmonella Typhimurium and Salmonella Eastbourne were isolated from cattle and beef, whereas Salmonella Saintpaul and Salmonella Cotham were isolated only from diarrheic patients. Except for serotype Salmonella Saintpaul, all isolates were grouped into five pulsotypes, of which two pulsotypes contained isolates from cattle and beef. Isolates from humans represented unique pulsotypes. Among the 22 Salmonella isolates tested, 95.5% were resistant to at least 1 of the 14 antimicrobials tested. Three Salmonella isolates originating from cattle were multidrug resistant. One human isolate was susceptible to all antimicrobials tested. More specifically, resistance to ampicillin, sulfamethoxazole, tetracycline, tigecycline, and trimethoprim were observed. The most frequently observed resistance was to sulfamethoxazole (90.9%, 20/22) followed by trimethoprim (22.7%, 5/22). The study revealed considerable Salmonella contamination of beef at retail shops, antimicrobial resistance to commonly used antimicrobials, and shared genetically similar Salmonella serotypes between cattle and beef; the link with humans could not be established. Still, the findings of Salmonella in cattle and beef, the propensity of transfer of Salmonella from cattle to beef coupled with the common consumption of raw/undercooked beef are likely to pose public health risk in Ethiopia.

Introduction: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, RNA family. It has continued to spread across the world after its first outbreak in China in 2019. On 11 March 2020 the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic given its global public health and economic impacts. Objective: To assess knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) on lifestyle, public health measures practiced by society and their impact to contain COVID-19 transmission in the Afar community, Afar Region, Ethiopia. Methods: Community-based cross-sectional study design was conducted from May to July, 2020, on purposively selected districts and the Peasant Association (PA). Simple random sampling was applied to select households and study participants. Structured and semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect information from study participants. The collected data were entered into Microsoft Excel and transferred to SPSS version 20 for analysis. Both descriptive and analytical analysis was provided and a p-value of less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: Of the total (266) study participants, most of them had no formal education (61.7%) and were aged from 35– 40 (34.2%). More than half, 67.7% and 56.8%, of participants did not know chewing chat and smoking cigarettes as a risk factor for COVID-19, respectively. Almost half, 49.6%, of participants live in a house which is non-partitioned and without ventilation. The participants were took part in public gatherings such as funerals (27.1%), weddings (13.9%), meetings (13.5%) and went to a market (9%) during the pandemic. Nearly half (47.7%) of the study participants did not wear facemasks. Of the total, 27.4% and 71.4% participants lost their daily income more than and less than half, respectively. Conclusion: This study revealed knowledge, attitude and practice of the community in the area to contain COVID-19 spread were minimal. Therefore, more improvement of public health measures will be required.

Background Calves are important assets for replacement of cows for the future dairy and beef herd sustainability. However, calf hood diseases have a significant financial impact on dairies resulting from treatment costs, genetic loss, and impaired future performance. Objective The purpose of the present research is for isolation and identification of Salmonella and E. coli infection in diarrheic calves, assessing risk factors for occurrence of calf diarrhea and examining antimicrobial susceptibility of isolated bacteria’s. Methodology: A cross- sectional study on the isolation, identification and antimicrobial susceptibility of E. coli and Salmonella was carried out on calves up to two months of age from November, 2018 to March, 2019 in and around Sebeta town, Ethiopia. The detection of E. coli and Salmonella was done by conventional bacteriological method and biolog (semiautomatic machine). The data was analyzed by Stata 12. Results It was found that the detection rate of E. coli and Salmonella from 129 sampled diarrheic calves were 65 (50.3%) and 8 (6.2%) respectively. Age (E. coli, X2 = 9.429, P = 0.024; Salmonella, X2 = 8.161, P = 0.043), sex (E. coli, X2 = 11.225, P = 0.001, though not significant for Salmonella) and feeding time of colostrum (X2 = 7.510, P = 0.023; Salmonella, X2 = 6.678, P = 0.036) were risk factors associated with the incidence of E. coli and Salmonella. The antimicrobial study revealed that most of the E. coli was highly susceptible to sulphamethoxazole˖trimethoprim, chloramphenicol, gentamicin and ampicillin and highly resistant to tetracycline (29.23%) and followed by polymixin B (6.1%), and from isolates of Salmonella all showed 100% susceptibility for sulphamethoxazole˖trimethoprim and polymixin B, 87% to Ampicillin, chloramphenicol and tetracycline while 75% to gentamicin. Conclusion Based on those findings, it can be concluded that calf diarrhea was found to be high and could affect dairy production in the study area. The triggering ecological, social and bacterial genetic factors for the widespread distribution of multidrug resistant Salmonella and E.coli are not known, thus requires comprehensive study.