Ethiopia is a country with vast and diverse animal resources and endowed with favorable agro-ecology for livestock sector. Based on this, extensive works are being done to get the proper benefit from the sector. Among diverse animals that the country has, especially in pastoral and agro-pastoral areas, camels are the most dominant livestock resource.
Animal health service is a key pillar to benefit from this great resource. For this reason, it is necessary to work together with stakeholders to solve the unknown Camel Diseases (UCDs) that has been affecting camel producing communities in Ethiopia and also in East Africa.
Based on the the cooperation and support requested by the Ministry of Agriculture to solve this problem, the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA), which is the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) Collaborating Center for diseases of camels, visited Ethiopia last year July 2024 to investigate the outbreaks related to Unknown Camel Disease (UCD) in Ethiopia.
The collaborating center (ADAFSA) collected various types of samples from clinically sick camels in Borena Zone. They conducted laboratory analyses in Abu Dhabi and reported at the 26th WOAH Conference of the Regional Commission for Africa that the camels were infected with the Wesselsbron virus. Following this presentation Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and ADAFSA urged to enhance and strengthen collaboration for further research to examine the potential damage caused by the Wesselsbron virus and its association with the causes of camel deaths in Ethiopia and East Africa.
The discussion has held on how to roll out the identified virus, which has been described as the unknown cause of camel disease, and also the investigation into other potential causes of UCD. Considering other possible causes of the disease, development partners and stakeholders like FAO, IGAD, AU-IBAR, ILRI, AU-PANVAC, WOAH East Africa Regional Representative, academic professors, Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) or representatives of (South Sudan, Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia) and other organizations working on animal health attended the discussion. In this way, they agreed to work together to stop the Unknown Camel Diseases (UCD) in the region by:
1. Developing ELISA kits for antibody detecting the virus through active surveillance in the region.
2. Isolating the already detected virus in clinical samples from sick camels by collecting samples from the field again.
3. Conducting experiments using the isolated virus on healthy camels to rollout the detected virus is sole cause of the UCD reported in the region.
4. Once the identified virus is proved as the cause for the UCD, develop or support the development and production of vaccine against the disease.
5. Agreed to support continuous investigation for other causes of UCD in camels as the clinical signs that led to the death of camels reported so far in the region varies and may have different causes.
Finally, it was agreed to share the action plan drafted by ADAFSA to allow stakeholders to engage, as it enables them to indicate areas where they can provide support, including indicating areas to be incorporated in the action plan. The long journey started through a fruitful collaboration between the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and ADAFSA as part of this important mission to save camels, the future Animal in the region.
This is great work, if you need local collaboration Haramaya University is here in eastern part of Ethiopia which has participated in investigation of camel death due to unknown cause in northern Somalia Region Ethiopia two years back.
Thank you