Interventions to reduce camel and small ruminant young stock morbidity and mortality in Ethiopia.

Morbidity and mortality of young stock is a challenge for livestock producers globally. In Ethiopia, where camels and small ruminants (sheep and goats) are essential smallholder and pastoral livestock, young stock losses can cause severe consequences to livelihoods. This pilot study, part of a Government-led Young Stock Mortality Reduction Consortium project, was undertaken to identify and evaluate interventions to reduce young stock mortality in mixed crop-livestock and pastoral production systems in Ethiopia.

Comparison of Kato-Katz, PCR and coproantigen for the diagnosis of taeniasis.

Four methods were compared for the diagnosis of human taeniasis caused by Fecal samples from persons living in a endemic region of Madagascar were examined for taeniid eggs by the Kato–Katz method. Subsequently, samples positive ( = 16) and negative ( = 200) for eggs were examined by (i) amplification of the fragment of small subunit of the mitochondrial ribosomal RNA (S) gene using conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and (ii) a nested PCR of a fragment of the gene. Additionally, 12 egg-positive and all egg-negative samples were tested for coproantigen detection.

Confirmation by necropsy of a high prevalence of porcine cysticercosis in a rural district of Madagascar.

Neurocysticercosis is recognized as an important health issue in the Malagasy population. To date, investigations into prevalence of infection with the causative agent, , in the parasite's natural animal intermediate hosts, have relied on serological methods which have been found to be non-specific. We determined the prevalence of porcine cysticercosis among pigs from a contiguous area of the Betafo and Mandoto administrative districts, Vakinankaratra Region, Madagascar.

Reducing Calf Mortality in Ethiopia.

Morbidity and mortality of young stock present economic and production challenges to livestock producers globally. In Ethiopia, calf morbidity and mortality rates, particularly due to diarrhea and respiratory disease, are high, limiting production, incomes, and the ability of farmers to improve their livelihoods. In this paper, we present findings from the combined experience of the Young Stock Mortality Reduction Consortium, which conducted epidemiological and intervention testing in calves across three production systems.

Control trial of porcine cysticercosis in Uganda using a combination of the TSOL18 vaccination and oxfendazole.

Background: Neurocysticercosis caused by Taenia solium when the parasite lodges in the central nervous system, is an important cause of human seizures and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. The parasite is prevalent in many regions of Uganda. Pigs are intermediate hosts for T.