Prospective Cohort Study of Calf Mortality and Identification of Helminths and Tick Species in South West Ethiopia

Prospective Cohort Study of Calf Mortality and Identification of Helminths and Tick Species in South West Ethiopia | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Prospective Cohort Study of Calf Mortality and Identification of Helminths and Tick Species in South West Ethiopia Moti Wakgari Amenta This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7109858/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract There is an immense demand for animal products in Ethiopia due to the country's rapid urbanization and population increase. On the other hand, calf sickness and death has been hindering cattle productivity. The purposes of this study were: To determine the prevalence of helminth infection and ticks infestation, to identify major gastro-intestinal parasites and tick species, describe magnitude of morbidity and death. From January to December 2024, prospective cohort study design, cluster random sampling technique was used on calves up to one year age. 241 (or 30 57.6%) of the 418 fecal samples that were taken tested positive for helminth parasite eggs of various species. The infection was significantly higher in thin body condition (p<0.05). The most common identified helminth parasites species were: Paramphistomum spp (22%), Fasciola spp(18.7%), Ascaris spp (13.3%).Ticks were observed on 92% of the calves examined. Out 618 Ixodid ticks collected, Bophilus(B.decoloratus) was the most abundant (44%) that followed by Amblyomma (A. variegatum) and Hyalomma (Hyalomma marginatum rufipes) with prevalence of 30% and 20% respectively. Ticks infestation were significantly higher in thin body condition and local calves breed (p<0.05). Generally, crude morbidity and death rate were 42.79% and 15.08%, respectively. The primary health problem affecting calves in this study was caused by helminths and ticks, which contributed to the higher crude morbidity and mortality rate. Calves Ethiopia Helminths Morbidity Mortality Ticks Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 24 Nov, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 07 Nov, 2025 Reviews received at journal 30 Aug, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 12 Aug, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 15 Jul, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 15 Jul, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 15 Jul, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 13 Jul, 2025 First submitted to journal 12 Jul, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7109858","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":485764290,"identity":"3d3c1e04-5a1b-4692-8dd7-7d21164b259c","order_by":0,"name":"Moti Wakgari Amenta","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA6ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYJCCAwwMCUCKsfEBkOThI6yBGa6l2QCkhY0YLQwQLQxsEmCSkAbd9v6Dh3lq0uz6Zx9uq/yaYyfDxsD88NENPFrMzhxmOMxzLCd5xrnEttuy25KBDmMzNs7Bp+VGMsPhHLaKZIYzjG23JbcxA7XwsEkT1vKvIlkeqKVYcls9kVpy23LsDIBaGD9uO0yEljOHDQ7/7UtLMDzD2CzNuO04DxszIb8cb3z8cca3ZHu5M+wPP/7cVm3Pz9788DE+LTCQ2AAkmHlATGYilIOAPYhg/EGk6lEwCkbBKBhZAADk7UpbyYQ+2AAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Bedele Regional Veterinary Laboratory Center","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Moti","middleName":"Wakgari","lastName":"Amenta","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-07-12 19:08:11","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7109858/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7109858/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":86913071,"identity":"a48bb3a3-2ab6-47e4-8c51-8b5b3065fa18","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-07-17 05:39:22","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":388033,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ManuscriptIVJ.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7109858/v1_covered_b3ba2466-a9d3-49ef-a4a9-fb1fd43058eb.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eProspective Cohort Study of Calf Mortality and Identification of Helminths and Tick Species in South West Ethiopia\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"irish-veterinary-journal","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"Learn more about [Irish Veterinary Journal](https://irishvetjournal.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"13620","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/13620/3?","title":"Irish Veterinary Journal","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"BMC/SO AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Calves, Ethiopia, Helminths, Morbidity, Mortality, Ticks","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7109858/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7109858/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"There is an immense demand for animal products in Ethiopia due to the country's rapid urbanization and population increase. 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