Prospective Longitudinal Study of Calf Mortality: Prevalence and Identification of Helminths and Tick Species in Buno Bedele Zone Southwest Ethiopia

Prospective Longitudinal Study of Calf Mortality: Prevalence and Identification of Helminths and Tick Species in Buno Bedele Zone Southwest 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 Longitudinal Study of Calf Mortality: Prevalence and Identification of Helminths and Tick Species in Buno Bedele Zone Southwest Ethiopia Moti Wakgari Amenta This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal.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-6463108/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background: 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 are starting to hinder cattle productivity. The purposes of this study were: To determine the prevalence of helminth parasite infection and ticks infestation, to identify major gastro-intestinal parasites and tick species, describe magnitude of morbidity and death. Methods: From January to December 2024, prospective longitudinal study design, cluster random sampling technique was used on calves up to one year age. Results: 241 (or 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). In the present findings identified helminth parasites species were: Paramphistomum spp (22%), Fasciola spp(18.7%), Ascaris spp (13.3%), Oesophagastomum spp 11.2%), Trichuris spp (9.5%), Bunostomum spp (7.5%), Strongyloides spp (6.2%) and Cooperia spp(4.6%). 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). In general, the rates of crude morbidity and death were 42.79% and 15.08%, respectively. Conclusion: The primary health problem affecting calves in the studied areas was caused by helminths and ticks, which also contributed to the higher crude morbidity and mortality rate. Therefore, it is important to create awareness about parasite control. Furthermore, collaboration between farmers and animal health professionals are necessary to lower calf morbidity and death. Calves Ethiopia Helminths Mortality Risk factors Ticks Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted 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. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. 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-6463108","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":476431670,"identity":"24bedefe-d8a0-4f7b-a1e2-890eb20bd506","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":"Jimma University College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine Jimma","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Moti","middleName":"Wakgari","lastName":"Amenta","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-04-16 11:38:26","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6463108/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6463108/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":87178055,"identity":"85e0dcde-1cca-4cd1-9939-c857d8db06bb","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-07-21 09:08:57","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":473661,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"RevisedManuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6463108/v1_covered_244569c3-feac-4d5f-955a-7d4f124ad6d6.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Prospective Longitudinal Study of Calf Mortality: Prevalence and Identification of Helminths and Tick Species in Buno Bedele Zone Southwest Ethiopia","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"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":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Calves, Ethiopia, Helminths, Mortality, Risk factors, Ticks","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6463108/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6463108/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBackground:\u003c/strong\u003e 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 are starting to hinder cattle productivity. The purposes of this study were: To determine the prevalence of helminth parasite infection and ticks infestation, to identify major gastro-intestinal parasites and tick species, describe magnitude of morbidity and death.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMethods:\u003c/strong\u003e From January to December 2024, prospective longitudinal study design, cluster random sampling technique was used on calves up to one year age.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResults:\u003c/strong\u003e 241 (or 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\u0026lt;0.05). In the present findings identified helminth parasites species were: Paramphistomum spp (22%), Fasciola spp(18.7%), Ascaris spp (13.3%), Oesophagastomum spp 11.2%), Trichuris spp (9.5%), Bunostomum spp (7.5%), Strongyloides spp (6.2%) and Cooperia spp(4.6%). 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\u0026lt;0.05). In general, the rates of crude morbidity and death were 42.79% and 15.08%, respectively.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConclusion:\u003c/strong\u003e The primary health problem affecting calves in the studied areas was caused by helminths and ticks, which also contributed to the higher crude morbidity and mortality rate. Therefore, it is important to create awareness about parasite control. Furthermore, collaboration between farmers and animal health professionals are necessary to lower calf morbidity and death.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Prospective Longitudinal Study of Calf Mortality: Prevalence and Identification of Helminths and Tick Species in Buno Bedele Zone Southwest Ethiopia","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-06-26 02:45:45","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6463108/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"d78efdc1-0142-4c2f-bf21-fca7a24b934d","owner":[],"postedDate":"June 26th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-07-21T09:08:27+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-06-26 02:45:45","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-6463108","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-6463108","identity":"rs-6463108","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}