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Backyard chickens usually have open housing and scavenge for food, facilitating contact with infective forms of parasites present in the environment and increasing the risk of parasitic infections. Coccidiosis and ascaridiosis are two internal parasites in scavenging chickens that cause production losses to farmers. Prevalence data of these two diseases are scarce in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) but necessary to assess the burden of disease in backyard chickens. This study estimates the clinical prevalence of coccidiosis and ascaridiosis at the country and regional levels in all LMICs using regression imputation methods. Regression models were developed with data of known prevalence of these parasites and using primarily climatic factors as predictors. A binomial random effects model was developed for each disease to impute prevalence. The overall estimated prevalence of coccidiosis was 0.39 (95 % CI: 0.37-0.42), with a higher mean prevalence in tropical countries. The overall estimated prevalence of ascaridiosis was 0.23 (95 % CI: 0.22-0.25) with a higher mean prevalence in countries with tropical, temperate and continental climates. The findings of this study can aid to identify the burdens of coccidiosis and ascaridiosis infections across countries and regions, which can inform disease control plans and, and encourage international alliances to facilitate access to preventive measures, improving animal health and reducing production losses., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Coccidiosis is one of the leading morbidity causes in chickens, causing a reduction of body weight and egg production. Backyard chickens are at risk of developing clinical and subclinical coccidiosis due to outdoor housing and scavenging behaviour, jeopardizing food security in households. The objectives of this study were to estimate clinical prevalence of coccidiosis at country and regional levels in the Horn of Africa in extensive backyard chickens. A binomial random effects model was developed to impute prevalence of coccidiosis. Previously gathered prevalence data (n = 40) in backyard chickens was used to define the model. Precipitation (OR: 1.09 (95% CI: 1.05-1.13) and the presence of seasonal rainfall (OR: 1.85, 95% CI: 1.27-2.70) significantly increase prevalence. Results showed an overall prevalence of coccidiosis in the Horn of Africa of 0.21 (95% CI: 0.15-0.29). Ethiopia, the Republic of South Sudan and Kenya showed the highest prevalence and Djibouti the lowest. Significant differences between Djibouti and the countries with highest prevalence were found. However, no evidence of a significant difference between the rest of the countries. Kenya and Ethiopia showed larger prevalence differences between regions. Results could assist with the targeting of testing for coccidiosis, the observation for clinical disease of chickens living in specific regions and as a baseline for the evaluation of future control measures., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Conflict of Interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)