Tropentag, September 10 - 12, 2025, Bonn "Reconciling land system changes with planetary health"

Camel health management practices and helminth infections in pastoral systems in Ethiopia

¹Addis Ababa University, College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture, Dept. of Veterinary Epidemiology and Public Health, Ethiopia
²University of Kassel, Animal Husbandry in the Tropics and Subtropics, Germany

Abstract

Camels have vital contributions to the livelihoods of pastoral communities in Ethiopia, specifically in arid and semi-arid regions, where they provide the households with food, transportation, income and other socio-cultural services. However, their productivity and performance are often significantly affected by inadequate management practices and diseases, which include the prevalence of parasitic diseases. A baseline survey of 392 camel pastoralists focusing on camel health management practices, followed by a dry season herd monitoring survey combining structured interviews with herders and fecal examination of lactating camels (n=132) and their calves (n=119), was conducted to assess camel health and the burden of helminth parasites in East Shewa and Borana of Ethiopia.
The results showed a higher prevalence of helminth parasite infections among lactating camels in Borana (85%) compared to East Shewa (53%). A similar trend was observed in camel calves, with infestation rates of 78% in Borana and 48% in East Shewa. Among infected camels, most of the dams (68.5%) and their calves (53.5%) carried a heavy parasite burden, with fecal egg counts ranging from 850 to 30,000 eggs per gram of feces (EPG) in dams and 900 to 15,000 EPG in calves. More importantly, there was a significant correlation between parasite egg counts in lactating camels and their calves, indicating a potential transmission of parasites from the dam to its calf. The gastrointestinal tract parasite diversity among the 158 positive animals (87 dams and 71 calves) was dominated by Trichostrongylus (81%) and Haemonchus species (77%). Other identified parasites included Trichuris (18%), Ostertagia (13%), Moniezia (18%), and Nematodirus (8.2%), suggesting mixed parasite infections. In both Borana and East Shewa, camels were mostly treated by the herders themselves (81%), while the provision of health care services by public veterinary service providers (38%) or traditional healers (9.6%) was less common. Conventional animal health care mainly involving treatment with anthelminthics (98%) is the major health care while ethnoveterinary medicine was used less frequently (9.6%). In conclusion, the study showed that camels receive suboptimal animal health care with limited access to veterinary services. The study highlights the need for helminth parasite control programs to enhance camel health and welfare in the study regions.

Keywords: Animal health care, camels, helminth infections, prevalence

Contact Address: Berhanu Wakjira, Addis Ababa University, College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture, Dept. of Veterinary Epidemiology and Public Health, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, e-mail: berhanu.wakjira25gmail.com