Seroprevalence of contagious caprine pleuropneumonia in Kefta Humera,Alamata (Tigray) and Aba-‘ala (Afar), Northern Ethiopia

A cross sectional study was conducted to determine the sero-prevalence of contagious caprine pleuroneumonia in three districts of Tigray and Afar regions of Ethiopia namely; Kefta Humera, Alamata and Aba-‘alla. Proportions and chi-square test statistics were used to analyze the data. From a total of 863 goats and 137 sheep tested, 282 (32.68%) and 25 (18.25%) were positive for antibodies of Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. capripneumoniae respectively using complement fixation test (CFT). The seroprevalence of CCPP in goats among the three districts was statistically significant (x² = 76.00, p < 0.001). In this study there was no statistical significant variation in the seroprevalence of CCPP in both sexes (x² = 3.619, p = 0.0571) and age (x² = 0.990, p = 0.095) groups. The finding of high seroprevalence of CCPP in sheep (18.25%) could indicate that sheep are potential carriers of Mccp.     

Estrus synchronization in sheep with synthetic progestagens

Sixteen female sheep of Degua breed were assigned to receive either the full dose of norgestomet ear implant and injectable solution containing norgestomet and estradiol valerate (n = 8) or half the dose (n = 8). The ear implants were removed in both groups on day 12. All ewes received an intramuscular administration of 500 IU PMSG at implant withdrawal. Synchronized ewes were individually hand mated twice at 48 and 60 hours after implant removal. One ewe in each group however refused mating on both occasions. Pregnancy diagnosis was conducted by bimanual external palpation 90 to 100 days post mating. The conception rates (3/7, 42.85%) and (5/7, 71.42%) were recorded in the two treatment groups, respectively. All eight ewes lambed between 145 to 153 days post mating. In group I ewes carried only singletons (prolificity rate 1.0) whereas in group II two ewes delivered twins, producing 7 lambs with prolificity rate of 1.4 (N.S). From this preliminary investigation it appears that the lower dose of norgestomet ear implants offers better option for estrus synchronization accompanied by higher fertility.