Awareness of people living in Sagure District, Arsi, Ethiopia about ergot fungus (Claviceps purpurea) and ergotism

Abstract

Ergot is a plant parasitic fungus that belongs to the genus Claviceps, and ergotism is a poisoning caused by secondary metabolites produced mainly by the ergot fungus (Claviceps purpurea). The presence of ergot fungi in the farmers’ field was surveyed, and ergot sclerotia were clearly observed in the farmers’ fields on wild oat plants. A cross-sectional study was therefore conducted in three Kebeles of the Sagure District (Kechema Murkicha, Digelu Kidame and Mankula Negele), near Asela town, Ethiopia, to assess awareness of the residents about ergot fungus and ergotism. From a total of 385 study participants only 100 (26%), knew what ergot and ergotism stand for. Thirty-one percent of the study participants described the most common symptoms of the ergot poisoning as ‘cutting off legs’ and removing wild oats (Avena abyssinica), the host for the ergot fungus, as the main method of prevention of the disease. Among the socio-demographic factors, education level was found to be significantly associated with the knowledge of ergot (p < 0.001), where participants from secondary education and above had better knowledge about ergot fungus and ergotism (cor: 2.5, 95% CI:1.34 – 6.22). From binary logistic regression model fitted, study site has statistically significant association with knowledge about ergot (AOR: 5.34, 95% CI:3.25 – 8.43, p< 0.001). In conclusion, though the fungus was prevalent in the farmers’ fields, majority of the study participants were not aware of ergot fungus and ergotism, thus there is a need to create awareness about the fungus and the disease in order to prevent possible future disease outbreaks.