African Horse Sickness Study on Seroprevalence and Identifications in Equidae at Selected Sites in Ethiopia
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Date
2006-06
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Addis Ababa University Faculty Of Veterinary Medicine
Abstract
ABSTRACT
A study was undenaken to determine the seroprevalence o f Afri can horse sick ness viru s
antibod ies, isolate and characterize th e vi ru s re sponsible as well as identi fy potenti al risk
facto rs in t he equi ne po pulation of sel ected study areas in Ethio pia In total 1265 seru m
samples origina t ing from 824 donkeys, 383 horses and 58 mules were coll ected from
September 2005 to mid of April 2006. Comp eti tive Enzy me Linked Immu nosorbent Assay
(C-ELISA) configu rati o n was employed to dete rmine the presence of AHSV antibodies
The apparent prevalence of AHSV was found to be 297% (95% C I ~ 26.8-33 .0) in
donkeys, 104% (95% C I ~ 78- 14 .0) in ho rses and 103% (95% C I ~4 . 8 -22 I) in mules
The overall apparent sera prevalence of AJ-I SV was found to be 23% (95% C I~20 8-25 4)
There is sig nificant variat ion amongst the types of equidae in seropositivity (P<O OS)
Statisticall y significant (P<Q 05) difference in seroprevalence was observed in the different
study areas, confirming the existence of agro-ecology based variation in the occurrence of
African horse sickness The highest seroprevalence of AHSV was documented in the
lowlands followed by midland and highland areas This has direct correlation with the
ecological distribution of the ClillcOfdes vectors As for age dependent va riation III
seroprevalence no statistical sign ificant difference was found All age groups as well as
male and female populatio ns were equally affected The risk of acquiring AHS is more
than two fold (OR = 2 i) with respect to the types of equidae affected Moreover, agro-
ecology contributes nearly two fold (OR = \ 5) for the occurrence of African horse
sickness There is strong association among C-ELISA result o f AHSV antibodies, types of
equidae and agro-ecology, but age is not pan of the interaction However, sex has weak
eflect to precipitate the occurrence of African horse sickness Active disease search was
co ndu cted with the aim of virus isolation and iden tifi ca tion After three blind pa ssages
were carried out on vero cell lines the sample was subjected to I-ELISA configuration
However, the result was negative . In the presen ce of the disease in the field with classical
pathognomonic signs and postmonem lesion s the negative result is probably due to th e
improper handling of t he tissues processed. The indigenous knowledge base of equine
owners about African horse sickness in t he study areas was assessed through a structured
questionnaire forma t The survey result indicated t hat , the indigenous knowledge of
owners was found to be unsatisfactory
Description
Keywords
Equid.e, AJ-ISV , Sera prevalence, Risk factors, Selected areas, Ethiopia, Virus Isolation and identification, questionnaire