Indigenous knowledge on the practice of milk container fumigation and its effect on microbial safety of milk among pastoral communities in west Guji zone, southern Ethiopia.

Introduction: Milk is a high-risk food and has been implicated in many foodborne illnesses. Thus, the pastoral communities in rural Ethiopia used a traditional practice of milk container fumigation to maintain the quality and safety of milk. Objective: to assess the indigenous knowledge on milk container fumigation practice and its effect on the microbial safety of milk among pastoral communities in the west Guji zone, southern Ethiopia. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was conducted in six randomly selected kebeles of the pastoral districts in the west Guji zone, Southern Ethiopia from December to June/2022. The preservative plants and raw milk samples were collected and transported to the laboratory, to analyze the efficacy of plants on the microbial safety throughout milk storage. A variance analysis was used to compare the means of microbiological growth and pH measure among the treatments and control; while thematic analysis was for qualitative data. Result: Four species of plants, namely: Olea africana, Clerodendrum myricoides (Hochst) vatke, Rhamnus staddo, and Rhus natalensis were identified from the study area; as they were used for fumigating milk storage containers to prevent a contamination of milk. According to respondents, the fumigation of milk containers was practiced by holding the container upside down over the smoke from a burning chip of each plant species. Accordingly, it was demonstrated that the R. staddo has relatively better efficacy in inhibiting microbial growth in milk than O. africana and C. myricoides (Hochst) vatke; while R. natalensis has no significant impact on microbial growth in milk over the storage period. Conclusion: Pastoralists in the West Guji zone were fumigated the milk storage container by using smoke of O. africana, R. staddo, C. myricoides (Hochst) vatke, and R. natalensis plants. As such, it was identified that R. staddo has relatively better efficacy in inhibiting microbial growth in milk than O. africana and C. myricoides (Hochst) vatke; and it is a better plant to be recommended for the preservation of cow milk.

COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and associated factors among health workers in West Guji zone, Southern Ethiopia: Cross-sectional study.

Background: Currently, different COVID-19 vaccines are being developed and distributed worldwide to increase the proportion of the vaccinated people and as a result to halt the pandemic. However, the vaccination progress is different from place to place even among health care workers due to variation in vaccine acceptance. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine and determinant factors among healthcare workers in west Guji zone, southern Ethiopia. Method and materials: An institutional-based cross-sectional study design was employed to assess COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and associated factors among health care workers from July to August 2021. A simple random sampling technique was used to choose 421 representative healthcare workers from three hospitals in the west Guji Zone. The self-administrated questionnaire was used to collect data. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were computed to identify factors associated with the acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine. P < 0.05 was considered for significantly associated factors. Result: From the representative health workers, 57, 47.02, and 57.9% of healthcare workers had good practice of COVID-19 prevention, adequate knowledge, and a positive attitude toward the COVID-19 vaccine consecutively. 38.1% of healthcare workers said they had a willingness to accept the COVI-19 vaccine. Profession (AOR-6, CI: 2.92-8.22), previous history of vaccine side effects (AOR: 3.67, CI: 2.75-11.41), positive attitude toward vaccine acceptance (AOR: 1.38, CI: 1.18-3.29), adequate knowledge toward COVID-19 vaccine (AOR: 3.33, CI: 1.36-8.12), and adequate practice of COVID-19 prevention measure (AOR: 3.45, CI: 1.39-8.61) were significant associated with COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. Conclusion: The proportion of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among health workers was found to be low. From the study variables, profession, previous history of vaccine side effects, positive attitude toward vaccine acceptance, adequate knowledge to ward off COVID-19 vaccine, and adequate practice of COVID-19 prevention measures were significantly associated with COVID-19 vaccine acceptance.

Antimicrobial Resistance Profile of Enterobacteriaceae and Drinking Water Quality Among Households in Bule Hora Town, South Ethiopia.

Background: Antimicrobial resistance bacteria and unsafe water are contributing to the growing burden of diseases. Hence, isolation and antimicrobial susceptibility tests for drinking water samples are currently becoming vital to address the human health risks from drinking unsafe water. Objective: This study aimed to assess the antimicrobial resistance profile of Enterobacteriaceae and quality of drinking water among households in Bule Hora Town, South Ethiopia. Methods and Materials: A community-based cross-sectional study was used from June to August 2021. A total of 75 water samples were collected and analyzed at the Microbiological Laboratory of Bule Hora University within 6 hours. A membrane filtration method and biochemical tests were used for the isolation and identification of bacteria. An antimicrobial susceptibility test was performed using Kirby-Bauer disc-diffusion method on Mueller-Hinton Agar. Systematic and simple random probability sampling techniques were used to draw representative samples. The data were entered into Epi Data 3.1 and then exported to SPSS version 25 where univariate and bivariate analyses of the data were conducted. Results: This study indicated that 59 (78.6%), 30 (40%), and 20 (26.6%) of water samples from the storage of households were contaminated with total coliforms, thermo-tolerant coliforms, and Escherichia coli, respectively. Similarly, Salmonella accounted for 18 (24%), Shigella 12 (16%), and other members of the Enterobacteriaceae such as Proteus, Citrobacter, Klebsiella, Escherichia coli, and Enterobacter species were also isolated. All isolates of Enterobacteriaceae showed resistance to amoxicillin plus clavulanic acid and ampicillin. Besides, Shigella showed 10 (83.3%), 2 (16.6%) and 10 (83.3%) and Salmonella showed 16 (88.9%), 5 (27.8%) and 15 (83.3%) resistant to cotrimoxazole, chloramphenicol and tetracycline, respectively. All the tested drinking water samples had no free chlorine at all at point of use. Conclusion: There was contamination of drinking water with coliform and antibiotic-resistant Enterobacteriaceae in most surveyed households.

Infectious medical waste management during the COVID-19 pandemic in public hospitals of West Guji zone, southern Ethiopia.

Introduction: COVID-19 has swept through the world in a very short period; large volumes of medical waste are being generated in response to the pandemic. Hence, it is imperative to plan and develop evidence-based additional waste management systems. Objective: To assess infectious medical waste management system during the COVID-19 pandemic in public hospitals of the West Guji zone, southern Ethiopia, 2020. Methods: Institution-based cross-sectional study design was conducted from November 05-25/2020. To determine infectious medical waste generation rate, different color plastic buckets and bags was distributed to each ward of the hospitals. Then, its quantity was measured by using a calibrated weighing balance for seven consecutive days. An interviewer-administered questionnaire and an observational checklist were used to collect data related to the existing waste management system, and the knowledge, attitude and practice of waste handlers. The data were analyzed by SPSS version 25 and presented in tables, figures and texts as appropriate. Result: The average infectious medical waste generation rate was determined to be 2.1 kg/bed/day and/or 0.57kg/patient/day. Besides, there was limited segregation of infectious medical waste at the point of generation. Mixed medical waste was collected and transported by using open plastic bin and burned in a brick incinerator or/and dumped in an open field. Moreover, about 42%, 44.6% and 64.8% of the waste handlers had adequate knowledge; a positive attitude and adequate practice respectively. Conclusion: The average infectious medical waste generation rate is above the threshold value (0.2kg/bed/day) set by the WHO. Besides, its management was limited. There was also a gap in the knowledge and attitude of waste handlers towards infectious medical waste management during the COVID-19 pandemic.