The present study was conducted from November 2014 to April 2015 in and around Bishoftu town to determine causes, associated risk factors and owner's response to causes of lameness for lame donkeys presented to Donkey Health and Welfare Project Clinic. Accordingly, 325 lame donkeys were purposively selected for this study. Questionnaire survey and physical examination were employed as study design. Results of 325 donkey owners interviewed revealed that various causes of lameness. Among these interviewed 222 and 221 respondents has better knowledge about the lameness caused by hyena bites and various wounds respectively, whereas 2, 8 and 41 respondents have information about varies diseases, solar penetration and overloading as a causes of lameness respectively. The current study includes 2 young and 323 adult donkeys. Out of the 325 lame donkeys, 179 were females and the remaining 146 were males. Upon physical examination of all donkeys taken into study, seventeen types of musculoskeletal abnormalities were identified, among these, higher frequency of foreign material in hoof, crackling and hoof overgrowth with 293, 245 and 208 cases respectively. Low frequency of hygroma (3) and bone fracture (8) were also observed. Grade analysis of lame donkeys revealed 3 (0.92%) mild cases, 84 (25.85%) moderate, 234 (72.92%) severe and 1 (0.31%) non-weight bearing cases. Grade three was most frequently observed which appeared in one out of two cases of lameness. The average grade of lameness was 2.72 ± 0.47. There was no statistically significant difference (P>0.05) between the two sexes, body condition scores and age of animals regarding identified abnormalities and grade of lameness. However, the high number of donkeys which had lameness (79.08%) were found with poor body condition scores. Lameness was seen on both front and hind limbs but majority (97.23%) was unilateral type, of which 60% was presented with front limb while 37.5% was with hind limb. Significant difference was observed between front and hind limbs (P<0.05) for occurrence of lameness. Poor husbandry practices and lack of knowledge or information on causes of lameness among owners remain the factor for occurrence and severe grade of lameness.

From 2010 to 2017, as part of a wider animal welfare program, The Donkey Sanctuary piloted an integrated, community-based model for the control and prevention of epizootic lymphangitis (EZL) in cart mules in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. Stakeholders included muleteers, service providers, and transport and animal health regulatory authorities. Interventions included muleteer education, wound prevention, harness improvement, animal health professional training, treatment of early EZL cases, euthanasia for advanced cases, and review of transport services and traffic guidelines. The project followed a participatory project management cycle and used participatory learning and action tools to facilitate stakeholder engagement and ownership. Participatory and classical epidemiology tools were employed to raise and align stakeholder understanding about EZL for effective control and prevention and to evaluate the progress impact of the model through annual prevalence surveys. During the intervention, the annual prevalence of EZL reduced from 23.9% (102/430) (95%CI: 19.8%−27.0%) in 2010 to 5.9% (58/981) (95% CI: 4.4%−7.4%) in 2017, and wound prevalence from 44.3% in 2011 to 22.2% in 2017; trends in the reduction of the prevalence maintained in the face of a mule population that increased from 430 in 2010 to ~1,500 in 2017. While non-governmental organization (NGO)-led interventions can facilitate change by trialing new approaches and accessing new skills and resources, sustainable change requires community ownership and strengthening of service provision systems. To this effect, the project raised muleteer competence in mule husbandry and EZL prevention strategies; strengthened veterinary competence; facilitated more mule-friendly traffic, transport, and waste disposal guidelines and practices; supported mule-community bylaws to control EZL; and established a supportive network between stakeholders including trusting relationships between muleteers and veterinary services. To advance the intervention model in other endemic areas, we recommend elucidation of local epidemiological factors with other stakeholders prior to the intervention, early engagement with veterinary and transport service regulatory authorities, early development of bylaws, exploration of compensation or insurance mechanisms to support euthanasia of advanced cases, and additional social, economic, and epidemiological investigations. In line with the OIE Working Equid Welfare Standards, we suggest that integrated community-based interventions are useful approaches to the control and prevention of infectious diseases.

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This study was conducted between November 2010 and April 2011 in 3 districts of Sidama Zone, southern Ethiopia, to estimate the prevalence and identify risk factors influencing occurrences of skin problems in donkeys. A total of randomly selected 384 male donkeys were clinically examined for skin problems. Hypothesized risk factors (age, body condition, use, feeding, housing at night, harness material, harness fitness) were either observed and recorded at the time of clinical examination or collected through semi-structured questionnaire. The overall prevalence of skin problems, taking into consideration harness sores, hyena bite, donkey bite, ectoparasites, epizootic lymphangitis, sarcoid, dermatophytosis, abscess, brand scar and ulcer due to Habronema was 91.9%. Sores were the most important (82.3%) skin problems followed by ectoparasites (22.1%). The ectoparasites identified in the study were lice (11.2%), ticks (10.4%) and mange mites (1.6%), with mixed infestation involving lice and ticks in 0.8% of the donkeys. Body condition, age, harness material and harness fitness were significantly associated with sore prevalence (P<0.001). Donkeys with poor body condition, old donkeys, donkeys with synthetic harness materials and ill-fitting harness had higher prevalence (P<0.001) of sores compared to their counterparts. The study revealed a high prevalence of skin problems in general and sores in particular which suggest profound compromise in welfare and health of the animals and possible neglect by their owners. Efforts should be made to increase the awareness of the community in general and donkey owners in particular towards improving animal welfare and health.Keywords: Skin problems, Donkey, Sore, Lice, Ticks, Ethiopia