Mycobacteria species are a group of bacteria that are responsible for tuberculosis infection which affects mainly lung, lymph glands, skin, bone disease in humans and animals worldwide. Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious and transmissible disease mainly caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and it is one of the major public health problems worldwide that affects all age groups. Ethiopia ranks ninth among 22 high tuberculosis burden countries in world and one of the top 3 in Africa. The disease is affecting large segments of the populations in the country. It is caused by the genus of Mycobacterium which includes many pathogens known to cause serious disease in mammals. Species in Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex group are characterized by 99.95 % or greater similarity at nucleotide level and posses identical 16 SrRNA sequences but differ widely in terms of their host tropisms, phenotypes and pathogenecity. The diagnosis of Mycobacterium species can be made by direct and indirect methods including clinical examination, gross and histopathological examination, Mycobacteriological culture isolation methods and biochemical tests. These methods can be grouped as conventional mycobacterial dignosictic techniques. Other tests include immunological techniques (tuberculin skin test, interferon gamma release assays, lymphocyte proliferation assay). Furthermore, there are advanced diagnostic molecular techniques includes DNA probes, gene amplification methods, PCR, Multiplex PCR, RT-PCR, restriction fragment length polymorphism, Spoligo typing, MIRU-VNTR assay, and whole Genome sequencing. The combination of conventional, immunological and molecular techniques is the best option to develop appropriate control and prevention measures against tuberculosis in both human and animals.

A cross-sectional study was carried out from November 2016 to May 2017 to isolate and identify Clostridium tetani. A total of 71 samples (equine deep wound swabs, feces, soil from the feces contaminated environment) were collected. Isolation of Clostridium tetani was carried out using an anaerobic Viande et Foie (VF) medium. Out of the 71 samples cultured on VF medium, 27 (38%) of them were grown and all were confirmed to be Clostridium tetani using spore staining and biochemical tests. Study site and sample type had a statistically significant association (p<0.05) with C. tetani isolation in which higher occurrences were from the Bishoftu area, environmental, and feces samples. The present study showed the widespread occurrence of tetanus in the equine population inquiring about the need for designing feasible control strategies.