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

A cross-sectional study was carried out between April and November 2015 to investigate the sero-prevalence of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in cattle in Borena zone using 3ABC-Enzyme Linked Immuno Sorbent Assay (ELISA) to detect antibody against foot-and-mouth disease virus and semi structured questionnaire. Atotal of 363 sera samples were collected from nine peasant associations found inthree 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). The highest sero-prevalence was recorded in Soda peasant association of Dire district and Surupa peasant association of Yabello district which accounted for 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. Therefore, foot-and-mouth disease is an endemic and transboundary animal disease in Borena zone that calls for an effective control strategies to be in place.Keywords: Borena, FMD, Questionnaire survey, Sero-prevalence, 3ABC-ELIS