Leishmaniasis in Ethiopia: A systematic review and meta-analysis of prevalence in animals and humans

Leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by obligate intracellular protozoa of the genus Leishmania. Ethiopia does not have an overall estimation of prevalence of leishmaniasis infection at a country level. The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to summarize and pool estimates of studies that report the prevalence of leishmaniasis in Ethiopia. The literature search was conducted to identify all published studies reporting the prevalence of leishmaniasis with clearly designed inclusion and exclusion criteria. From all screened articles, 30 studies were eligible for final meta-analysis and systematic review. Because substantial heterogeneity was expected, random-effects meta-analyses were carried out using the total sample size and number of positives to estimate the prevalence of the disease at a country level. Between-study variability was high (τ(2) = 0.02; heterogeneity I(2) = 99.72% with Heterogeneity chi-square = 11985.41, a degree of freedom = 33 and P = 0.001). The overall random pooled prevalence of leishmaniasis was 19% (95% CI 14%–24%). Meta-regression analysis showed that diagnosis method used have contributed to the heterogeneity of studies. Molecular diagnosis has significantly lower prevalence than microscopic examination with a coefficient of −0.32, a p-value of 0.024, and CI (−0.6–0.05). The result of effect estimates against its standard error showed there was no publication bias with a P value of 0.084. This review indicated that there is still a higher prevalence of Leishmaniasis in the country. Reporting on risk factors like sex and age affected, species of Leishmania involved and many more other risk factors reviewing was not possible in this study due to lack of completeness in articles included. However, this report is an indication that the country needs nationally coordinated extensive prevention and control plan to reduce public health and socio-economic impact of the disease.