Epidemiological study on foot and mouth disease in cattle: Seroprevalence and risk factor assessment in Kellem Wollega Zone, West Ethiopia

A cross-sectional study was conducted in three districts of Kellem Wollega Zone of Oromia Regional State, West Ethiopia between November, 2011 to March, 2012 with the objectives of determining the seroprevalence of foot and mouth disease (FMD) in cattle and assessing the potential risk factors associated with the disease. Antibodies against non-structural protein of FMD virus using 3ABC ELISA was measured as an indicator of exposure to the virus. From the total 384 sera tested, the overall seroprevalence of FMD in Kellem Wollega Zone was found to be 21.4% (95% CI: 17.23 - 25.47). The highest seroprevalence was observed at Sayo 31.53% (9%%CI: 22.82 to 40.24) followed by Lalo Kile district 19.01% (12.51 - 25.51) and Dale Sadi district 15.26% (9.06 - 21.46). The seroprevalence of FMD in different age groups was 24.22% (95% CI: 18.62, 29.83), 16.51% (95% CI: 9.48, 23.53) and 18.75% (95% CI: 7.55, 29.94) in group of cattle aged greater than 4 years, between 2 to 4 years and less than 2 years, respectively. Higher seroprevalence observed in female 27.17% (95%CI: 20.89 - 33.45) than male 15.34% (10.17, 20.51). Seropositivity was significantly varied with sex and district of cattle (P < 0.05). The odds of being seropositive for female cattle was observed to be 2.05 times of the male cattle (OR; 2.05, 95% CI: 1.22 - 3.43) and Cattle from Sayo district had significantly higher seroprevalence than dale sadi cattle (OR; 2.58, 95% CI: 1.37 - 4.87). In conclusion, the result of this study showed that FMD is an important cattle disease in the study area necessitating further investigation and characterization of the circulating virus serotype to apply effective control and prevention measures.   Key words: Seroprevalence, foot and mouth disease (FMD), Kellem Wollega, 3ABC ELISA.