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.

Rural community perceptions and practices toward the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) prevention in Konso Zone, Southern Ethiopia: a lesson for the next pandemic.

Background: Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) has provided a lesson on preparedness and coping mechanisms for similar pandemics to different community segments. To control and prevent the spreading of COVID-19, people need to possess the correct attitude and perception to follow the appropriate practices against the causative agent. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the rural community's perceptions and practices toward COVID-19 prevention among southern Ethiopia's Konso zone rural communities. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study conducted from April to May 2022 on 605 study participants in the Kena district of the Konso zone of Ethiopia. Participants were recruited using simple random sampling techniques. Face-to-face interviews were conducted to collect data using structured questionnaires developed from the World Health Organization guide and related literature. A logistic regression model was used to identify determinants of perception and practice. Results: Among the 564 participants, 296 (52.5%) believed they would go to the healthcare facility if they contracted COVID-19. About 276 (48.9%) perceived that COVID-19 is not a stigma and should not be concealed. About 233 (41.3%) perceived COVID-19 would be controlled. However, the majority, 451 (80%), 440 (78%), 384 (68.1%), 381 (67.6%), 337 (59.8%), and 317 (56.2%) perceived that the cause of COVID-19 is sin, eating some food items were effective against the virus, no cases in their locality, living far away from COVID-19 area, the virus does not exist, respectively. Overall, only 22.5% of the study participants have good perceptions. About 58.5% practiced handwashing to prevent COVID-19, and 45.2% covered their mouth and nose while coughing/sneezing. Among the participants, 39.8% were vaccinated, and about a quarter (24.8%) of the respondents had good prevention practices. Participants with better educational status, use of social media as a source of information, and those with better income levels are found to be protective factors while being married is a risk factor. Conclusion: The status of the participant's perception and preventive practices toward COVID-19 was meager. There was a substantial magnitude of wrong perceptions about controlling such pandemics. High inaccurate perceptions and low preventive practice need an urgent and sustained improvement strategy to tackle similar pandemics or epidemics.