Owner reported diseases of working equids in central Ethiopia

Abstract

SummaryReasons for performing studyWorking horses, donkeys and mules suffer from numerous diseases and clinical problems. However, there is little information on what owners perceive as important health concerns in their working animals.ObjectivesTo identify and prioritise with owners the diseases and other health concerns in working equids in central Ethiopia using participatory methodologies.Study designParticipatory situation analysis (PSA).MethodsThe study was conducted with carthorse‐ and donkey‐owners in 16 sites in central Ethiopia. Multiple participatory methodologies were utilised, including ranking, matrices and focus group discussions. Owners’ perceptions on frequency, importance, morbidity and mortality of volunteered diseases and the clinical signs that owners attributed to each disease were obtained; information regarding the impact of these diseases and health concerns was also sought.ResultsA total of 40 separate disease and health problems were volunteered by carthorse‐ and donkey‐owners. Horse‐owners volunteered a musculoskeletal syndrome (with the local name ‘bird’, clinical signs suggest possible disease pathologies including equine exertional rhabdomyolysis), colic and epizootic lymphangitis most frequently, whereas donkey‐owners volunteered sarcoids, nasal discharge and wounds to occur most frequently. One problem (coughing) was volunteered frequently by both horse‐ and donkey‐owners. Owners demonstrated knowledge of differing manifestations and severity of these problems, which resulted in differing impacts on the working ability of the animal.ConclusionsAlthough many of the diseases and clinical signs had been previously reported, this study also identified some previously unreported priorities such as rabies in donkeys, an unidentified musculoskeletal syndrome in horses and respiratory signs in both horses and donkeys. The information gathered during this participatory study with owners may be used to inform future veterinary and educational programme interventions, as well as identify future research priorities.

Respiratory disease and sero‐epidemiology of respiratory pathogens in the working horses of Ethiopia

“…This may be a limitation of the examination, due to it being performed rapidly under roadside conditions, to allow owners to return to work as soon as possible. In contrast, owner reporting of recent respiratory signs was more common and in agreement with findings from participatory studies [5,6]. There was some disagreement between veterinary clinical examination findings and owner questionnaire responses.…”

Development and Evaluation of a Molecular Diagnostic Method for Rapid Detection of Histoplasma capsulatum var. farciminosum, the Causative Agent of Epizootic Lymphangitis, in Equine Clinical Samples

“…Ethiopia has Africa's largest equine population with approximately 2 million horses, which have a crucial role in the economy of both urban and rural communities (11–13). In two separate participatory studies in different areas of Ethiopia (14, 15), horse owners consistently volunteered EZL as a high-priority disease. EZL contributes to extensive morbidity and subsequent mortality due to abandonment of chronically infected animals and can have a devastating impact on the incomes of poor families (16, 17).…”

Evaluating the Efficacy of Knowledge-Transfer Interventions on Animal Health Knowledge of Rural Working Equid Owners in Central Ethiopia: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial

“…The content of the knowledge-transfer interventions and the design of the cluster-randomized controlled trial (c-RCT) has been described in detail in Stringer et al ( 7 ). The study developed ten learning objectives (Table 1 ) based around key issues identified during an initial participatory situation analysis phase of the study ( 5 ). These issues were associated with causes, sites, treatment, prevention and relevance of donkey wounds and their management.…”