Sero-prevalence Study on Foot and Mouth Disease in Selected Districts of Western Oromia

Abstract

A cross sectional study was conducted to demonstrate the sero-prevalence and associated risk factors of Foot and Mouth virus (FMD) of cattle at Gobu-Sayo and Horro districts of western Oromia.  A total of 271 blood samples were collected from cattle of above 6 months of age and sera were initially collected and stored at deep fridge(-20C⁰) in BARC animal health laboratory and finally transported to National Veterinary Institute (NVI), at Debre-zait for laboratory analysis. Therefore, overall sero-prevalence of FMD virus was 13(4.8%) based ELISA test result. The study showed that there was no statically significant difference (p>0.05) in sero-prevalence among the age group, sex, breed and body condition considered. However, there is stastically significant difference among locations (p< 0.05); sero-prevalence in Horro (5.2%) district higher than Gobu-Sayo (0.8%) district. Even though, the prevalence of the disease seems low, all community of the study area in general and livestock producers in particular need to be aware the existence and economic importance of FMD virus.

Keywords: Sero-prevalence, FMD, Cattle, Western Oromia, Ethiopia