Prevalence of Wound and Associated Risk Factors in Working Donkeys in and around Wolaita Sodo Town, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

A cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2015-September 2016 to determine the prevalence of wound and associated risk factors in donkeys in and around Wolaita Sodo town, Southern Ethiopia. A total of 400 working donkeys were examined, of which 172 (43%) were affected by wound.  The prevalence of wound vary significantly among sex, age categories and body condition score of animals. Higher prevalence (101/214;47.2%)of wound was recorded in male animals than female ones (71/186; 38.2%). This difference between both sexes was statistically significant (p = 0.013). The study also showed that a significantly higher prevalence (p = 0.001)of wound in old donkeys (75/161; 46.6%) followed by adults (89/202; 44.1%) and young (8/37; 21.6%). The highest rate of prevalence (p = 0.000) was recorded in donkeys with poor body condition (149/325; 45.8%) than those with good body conditions(23/75;31.1%). The highest distributions of wound was found in prescapular region (8.2%) followed by mixed (6.7%), back (5.5%), hind limb (5%), neck (3.8%), chest (3%), fore limb (2.8%), shoulder (2.3%) and head (2.2%). Donkey wounds were commonly distributed on the prescapular and back region. A significant number of abrasion wounds (24.5%), lacerative wounds (8.7%), punctured wounds (6.8%) and incised wounds (3%) in donkeys were reported in this study. The highest prevalence of wound was caused by improper harnessing (6.9%) followed by biting (12%), injury by horn (5%), infectious diseases (4.7%), over load (3.7%), unknown (2.3%), and falling (1.8%).Generally, this study has figured out wound as a major health problem of working donkeys in and around Wolaita Sodo town and hence, a comprehensive working donkeys health programs should be implemented in order to alleviate the prevailing problem.

Keywords: Donkeys, Prevalence, Risk Factors, Wolaita Sodo, Wound