Asfaw, Dr YilkalDemissie, Kassa2021-10-222023-11-082021-10-222023-11-082006-06http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/28290ABSTRACT 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 unsatisfactoryenEquid.e, AJ-ISV , Sera prevalence, Risk factors, Selected areas, Ethiopia, Virus Isolation and identification, questionnaireThesis