Sero-prevalence of foot and mouth disease in cattle in Borena Zone, Oromia regional state, Ethiopia

ObjectiveTo determine the sero-prevalnce of FMD and indicate patterns of animal movement in Borena zone, Ethiopia.IntroductionThe Foot and mouth disease (FMD) virus is a highly contagious and economically devastating trans boundery disease of cloven-hooved domestic and wild animals1.MethodsA cross-sectional study was carried out between April and November 2015 to investigate the sero-prevalence of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in cattle using serology and questionnaire servey in Borena zone.ResultsA total of 363 sera samples were collected from nine peasant associations found in three different districts. An overall seroprevalence of 42.7% (95%: CI= 37.7-47.84) was found during the study. There was statistically significant difference among the districts (χ2 = 10.43, p=0.005) and the highest prevalence was found in Dire district which accounted for 52.8% (95%: CI, 44.0-61.4). Soda peasant association of Dire district and Surupa peasant association of Yabello district accounted for highest sero-prevalence 65.5% (95%: CI, 49.4-78.5) and 65.0% (95%: CI= 40.4-78.5), respectively. Statistical significant difference in footand-mouth disease seroprevalence (χ2 =31.1, p=0.000) was found among the peasant associations. Similarly, there was significance difference (χ2 =17.4, p=0.000) in the prevalence of foot-and-mouth disease between age groups. Though the seroprevalence foot-and-mouth disease was higher in females than in males, there was no significant difference (χ2=1.63, p=0.202) between sex. The different risk factors analyzed during this study indicated that, peasant associations (PAs), district and age were seen to be significantly associated (p<0.05) with the seroprevalence of foot-and-mouth disease. The questionnaire survey revealed that foot-and-mouth disease outbreak was commonly seen during June to August (Short rainy season) and December to February (Long dry season), locally called Adolessa and Bona, respectively. Younger (1-3 years) animals were most susceptible than calf and adults (>3years). Moreover, an extrinsic factor like dry season enforces pastoralist to travel a longer distance to look for grazing lands and water sources that creates suitable conditions for foot-and-mouth disease transmission between infected and susceptible animals.ConclusionsFMD is an important transboundery animal disease that affects the livelihood of farmers and economy of the country. In pastoral areas like Borena where livestock movement is common during dry season, the disease is devastating and spreading from one area to the other. Therefore, an extensive regular serological survey, virus isolation, and characterizations of FMD virus need to be conducted for a possible development of poly-valent vaccines that contains commonly circulating serotypes of FMD virus in Ethiopia.References1. Gelagay Ayelet, Mana Mahapatra, Esayas Gelaye, Berhe G. Egziabher, Tesfaye Rufeal, Mesfin Sahle, Nigel P. Ferris, Jemma Wadsworth, Geoffrey H. Hutchings, and Nick J. Knowles. Genetic Characterization of Foot-and-Mouth Disease Viruses, Ethiopia, 1981–2007. Emerg Infect Dis. 15(9): 1409–1417.2009