Prevalence of bovine tuberculosis in cattle, camels and goats and awareness among pastoral and agro-pastoral communities of the Somali region, Ethiopia.

Bovine tuberculosis (BTB) is an endemic disease in Ethiopia; however, data on animal TB in the Somali region remain minimal. This cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2017 to June 2018 to estimate the prevalence of BTB in cattle, camels, and goats, identify associated risk factors, and assess community awareness of the disease. A total of 982 animals were tested using Comparative Intradermal Tuberculin Test (CIDT), with results interpreted at ≥4 mm and ≥2 mm cut-off points. In addition, a semi-structured questionnaire was administered to 110 animal owners to evaluate community knowledge related to BTB. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the association of risk factors with the occurrence of BTB in the study animals. At the ≥4 mm cut-off, the individual BTB prevalence was 2.7% (95% CI: 0.96-4.5%) in cattle, 1.8% (95% CI: 0.73-3.3%) in camels, and 0% in goats indicating that goats had no reactors at the standard diagnostic threshold. When applying the ≥2 mm cut-off, prevalence increased to 3.6% (95% CI: 1.6-5.7%) in cattle, 6.7% (95% CI: 4.0-9.5%) in camels, and 3.3% (95% CI: 1.4-5.3%) in goats. At the herd level, BTB prevalence in cattle, camels, and goats was 40%, 31%, and 0%, respectively, at the ≥4 mm cut-off. Camels exhibited the largest increase in herd prevalence when applying the more sensitive ≥2 mm threshold (68%). There was no statistically significant association in the prevalence of BTB with hypothesized risk factors in any of the examined livestock species. Somali pastoralists showed limited knowledge of zoonotic BTB, with only 63% having heard of bovine TB and 24% aware of animal‑to‑human transmission. The Complete absence of TB health education reported by all respondents (0%) highlights the critical need for targeted community awareness programs and integration of TB education into routine veterinary and public health services.