Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major public health threat, and inappropriate antimicrobial use (AMU) in food animal production can contribute to the global burden of AMR in humans. This study was conducted to understand knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of smallholder livestock owners regarding antimicrobial use, residue, and resistance in three agro-ecological zones and production systems in Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study based on structured interviews was conducted. Twenty-one items were used to assess farmers' KAP. Item response theory (IRT) model and Cronbach's alpha were used to assess the KAP measurement scales. Inferential analyses were used to compare the differences in the practices in terms of the farm and socio-economic characteristics. There was a difference in the type of antimicrobials reported use between agro-ecological zones and production systems. Pastoralists most commonly used antibiotics (86.7%) followed by anthelminthics (70.8%). Overall, tetracyclines (36.4%), aminoglycosides (31.3%), and trimethoprim-sulfonamides (6.2%) were the most frequently used classes of antibiotics across the study sites. Human preparation antibiotics (tetracyclines) were also being used for veterinary purposes by 18.5% of pastoralist households. About 81.6% of livestock owners surveyed reported to have access to veterinary drugs although access varied between agro-ecological zones and production system. About 72.3% of pastoralists administered antibiotics by not following through the full treatment course. Moreover, 70% of respondents were not aware of the recommended withdrawal periods of milk and meat after antibiotic treatment. It was noticed that around 80 and 70% of respondents had a tendency to give doses higher or lower than recommended of antimicrobials, respectively. The study confirms the need for interventions to increase knowledge among smallholder farmers to improve the way antimicrobials in general and antibiotics in particular are used in these settings. In addition, professional involvement, supervision, and guidance can also lead to more efficient antimicrobial use by smallholder livestock owners. The study also highlights the need for research into the development of usable tools that measure antibiotic knowledge and attitudes.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been recognized as one of the greatest global threats for human and animal health. The present review retrieved up to date information on the epidemiology of AMR in the animal-source food chain in Ethiopia focusing on AMR in bacterial species isolated from food handlers, live animals, foods (animal origin and non-animal origin), and in environmental samples. Accordingly, pooled prevalence of AMR in the different sources was estimated. For data analysis, we used random effect meta-analysis and in order to avoid exclusion of studies with zero prevalence of antimicrobial resistance, Freeman-Tukey double arcsine transformation was applied. We identified 152 eligible studies and retrieved 4097 data records (183 in food handlers, 2055 in foods, 1040 in live animals and 819 for environmental samples) which together reported a total of 86,813 AMR tests with 64 different antimicrobial disks for 81 bacteria species. We present the pooled prevalence of AMR for major bacterium-antibiotic combination in different sample types. The pooled prevalence of AMR in bacteria from food producing live animals was 20%. High estimates of AMR pooled prevalence were found in bacteria identified from milk, food handlers and the environmental samples with 29%, and 28% in meat. In foods of non-animal origin, the prevalence was lower with 13%. In milk, the highest AMR estimate was found for penicillin (69%) followed by amoxicillin (51%). Regarding multi-drug resistance (MDR), the overall pooled prevalence was 74% among AMR positive samples. Microbes reported having a higher MDR pattern were: Staphylococcus spp. (96%), Salmonella spp. (81%) and Escherichia coli (77%). The present review revealed a high resistance against commonly used drugs for animal and human treatments and/or prophylaxis. In conclusion, the high estimate of prevalence of AMR observed in bacteria recovered from different sample sources related to the animal-source food chain (food, live animal and environment) can highlight the possible linkage among them. The MDR levels in several bacteria species are a clear indication that the threat is directed to many antimicrobials. Our review demonstrated that the high overall AMR resistance levels call for effective policy and intervention measures, which best address the problem along the food chain through a One Health approach.

Animal health interventions tend to focus on transboundary or zoonotic animal diseases and little attention is given to diseases that mainly affect livestock production and productivity which are of concern for smallholder farmers. To understand disease priorities of men and women livestock keepers and how these impact households, this study used participatory methods to elucidate priorities, reasons for prioritization, knowledge on small ruminant diseases and their transmission pathways. The study was conducted in 23 sites distributed across 14 districts in four regional states of Ethiopia. Ninety-two focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted with men or women only groups. Various tools, such as semi-structured interviews, simple scoring and proportional piling were used to facilitate the process. A follow-up household survey involving 432 households/interviewees collected in-depth data on key small ruminant diseases. Each focus group identified and scored their top five diseases. During analysis, the diseases were grouped in to seven major categories based on local names and clinical signs reported. Highest scores in proportional piling (out of 100 counters) were obtained for respiratory diseases and gastrointestinal parasites in highland areas (mixed crop-livestock systems) with strong agreement among respondent groups using Kendall's coefficient of concordance (W) (W = 0.395, p < 0.01); whereas in lowland areas (pastoral and agro-pastoral systems), the priorities were respiratory and neurological diseases, also with very strong agreement (W = 0.995, P < 0.01). There was no significant difference between men and women in prioritizing disease constraints. The reasons for prioritization were also used to define categories of impact of disease. The household survey confirmed disease priorities and highlighted the role of mortality for respiratory diseases. Despite differences in household roles, both men and women unvaryingly described the clinical signs in live animals the same way and reported similar observations of disease in carcasses of slaughtered animals. Overall, both men and women farmers had low awareness of zoonotic diseases. In conclusion, the priorities of national disease control programs do not fully match priorities of farmers. Such participatory tools should therefore, play a pivotal role when designing sustainable livestock health interventions.

Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) is a severe, highly infectious and fatal viral disease of small ruminants. Four lineages of PPR virus have been identified globally based on sequence analysis of the nucleoprotein (N) and fusion (F) gene. The aim of this study was to isolate and genetically characterize recently circulating PPR virus in small ruminants in the eastern Amhara region in Ethiopia. A total of 28 anti-mortem samples (gum debris, nasal and ocular swab) were collected from clinically suspicious animals and examined for the presence of PPRV by a one-step RT-PCR assay. Samples positive with RT-PCR were subjected to isolation of the virus which were subsequently genetically characterized by sequencing of the nucleoprotein (N) gene and phylogenetic analysis of PPR virus (PPRV) strains. Of the 28 clinical samples examined, 46.4% were positive with RT-PCR for viral nucleic acid. The PPRV was successfully isolated on CHS-20 cell line with the ovine signaling lymphocyte activation molecule (SLAM) receptor expressed on the cell surface and confirmed with RT-PCR and IFAT assay. The nucleotide sequence and phylogenetic analysis indicated that the PPRV obtained were clustered genetically with Lineage IV isolates of the virus. The successful isolation of the virus and molecular findings of this study confirmed active lineage IV PPRV infections among populations of sheep and goats in eastern Amhara, suggesting risks for potential spread of the disease to currently free areas. Thus, we recommend systematic vaccination to contain outbreaks in affected districts and geographically linked surrounding districts to which the disease could potentially spread due to different epidemiological linkages.

The objective of this study was to characterize the distribution of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) of Escherichia coli (E. coli) isolated from livestock feces and soil in smallholder livestock systems. A cross-sectional study was carried out sampling 77 randomly selected households in four districts representing two agroecologies and production systems. E. coli was isolated and the susceptibility to 15 antimicrobials was assessed. Of 462 E. coli isolates tested, resistance to at least one antimicrobial was detected in 52% (43.7–60.8) of isolates from cattle fecal samples, 34% (95% CI, 26.2–41.8) from sheep samples, 58% (95% CI, 47.9–68.2) from goat samples and 53% (95% CI, 43.2–62.4) from soil samples. AMR patterns for E. coli from livestock and soil showed some similarities, with the highest prevalence of resistance detected against streptomycin (33%), followed by amoxycillin/clavulanate (23%) and tetracycline (8%). The odds of detecting E. coli resistance to ≥2 antimicrobials in livestock fecal samples were nearly three times (Odd Ratio—OR: 2.9; 95% CI, 1.72–5.17; p = 0.000) higher in lowland pastoral than in highland mixed crop–livestock production systems. These findings provide insights into the status of resistance in livestock and soil, and associated risk factors in low-resource settings in Ethiopia.

In this study, we assessed knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) related to tomato hygiene and food safety, among tomato vendors in the Ethiopian cities of Harar and Dire Dawa. From a total of 1498 tomato retail market vendors identified in the two cities through vendor mapping exercises, 151 outlets were randomly selected for a cross-sectional KAP survey on tomato handling, marketing, loss due to damage, safety, and hygienic practice. Tomato vendors claimed that they knew about food safety and hygiene, and risks associated with raw tomatoes. We found considerable variation in food safety knowledge, barriers, and practices during handling and marketing. The major concern of tomato traders in terms of food safety for vegetables was contamination with dirt. Around 17% of street vendors did not know about the importance of water quality and cleanliness for food safety. About 20% of tomato traders washed tomatoes after they purchased them and 43% and 14% of respondents who practiced tomato washing revealed that they cannot get the quantity and quality of water needed, respectively. Tomatoes were displayed in direct sunlight in about 85% of stalls. About 37% of vendors said rodents were present at night and could contact surfaces tomatoes are displayed on. For about 40% of outlets one or more flies were seen to be present on a third to two-thirds of their tomatoes. Overall, 40% of respondents reported they do not have adequate toilet facilities and 20% of those that use a toilet do not have water for washing hands after. The study identified areas that should be targeted by interventions aiming to improve food safety in this setting, however, without improvements in basic infrastructure to provide the pre-requisites for food safety the impact of small-scale food safety interventions may be limited.