Economic Importance and Widespread of Ectoparasites Infestation in Indigenous Chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus). A Study from Selected Local Government Councils and States in Nigeria

A cross sectional study was conducted from June 2016 to August 2017 to identify the widespread of ectoparasites in indigenous chickens and its associated economic significance in randomly selected Local Government Councils and States in Nigeria.  A total of 1025 indigenous chickens were examined out of which 90.7% were infested with one or more ectoparasites species. Four types of ectoparasites genera were encountered in this study, 17.0% of the total chickens examined were infested with only one genera while 73.9% were infested with two or more different genera. Among the ectoparasites encountered, lice infestation (85.8%) was the most prevalent followed by mite (70.4%), Flea (27.3%) and tick (6.2%) in descending order of widespread. Ten different species of ectoparasites, namely Menopon gallinae, Lipeurus caponis, Goniodes gigas, Cnemidocoptes mutans, Dermanyssus gallinae, Epidermoptes species, Laminosioptes cysticola, Megninia species, Echidnophaga gallinacean and Argas persicus were identified in the study. Menopon gallinae (50%) was most frequently encountered while Megninia species (2.7%) was least prevalent. The findings of this study showed that ectoparasites infestations were highly prevalent among indigenous chicken flocks, which may likely affect their optimum productivity. Routine prevention and control of ectoparasites should be encouraged in the study areas.Key Words: Indigenous chickens, ectoparasites, infestations, selected local government councils and states in Nigeria

Elucidating the Biological Role of Autologous Derived Platelet-Rich Plasma Gel in the Treatment of Chronic Diabetic Foot Ulcers.

MD (Res)The molecular basis for the use of synthetic growth factors (GFs) in tissue reparation has been poorly investigated. More recently, autologous derived platelet rich growth factor has gained popularity in the field of regenerative/ reparative medicine, mostly because it fits the description of an ideal naturally existing constellation of GFs. However, its efficacy remains controversial. Hence, this study is designed to further elucidate the physiological role of PRP in treating chronic diabetic foot ulcers. Platelet -rich plasma (PRP) and Platelet -poor plasma (PPP) were prepared from blood samples taken from healthy donors and diabetic patients through the use of platelet collecting and concentrating system. The GFs released were measured through immunoassay technique. The effects of the varying concentrations of PRP/PPP in culture media was assessed through tissue culture assay (proliferation, cell migration and angiogenesis assay) on human epithelia keratinocyte, dermal fibroblast and umbilical vein endothelia cell. Furthermore, immuno-histochemistry technique was used to evaluate the differentiation, proliferation, migration and extracellular matrix alterations occurring along wound margins of patients with chronic diabetic ulcers following PRP treatment. A significant difference was observed when the expression of platelet derived growth factor-AA, epidermal growth factor, vascular endothelia growth factor, transforming growth factor and thrombospodin-I released from PRP/PPP were compared between the two groups. There was a significant proliferative, migratory and angiogenic effect of PRP over PPP in the tissue culture assay; however this effect was most prominent with 5% PRP. Overall, hyperproliferative keratin, CD44 and β1-integrin were upregulated in diabetic ulcer keratinocytes as compared with normal foot skin. The clinical study showed that 3 of the 7 diabetic foot ulcer patients treated with PRP achieved complete wound re-epithelisation. We have been able to demonstrate through in vitro studies that PRP has a positive biological effect which mimics normal physiological tissue reparation process.Barts and the London Charity Fun

Conversion of sorghum stover into animal feed with white-rot fungi: Pleurotus ostreatus and Pleurotus pulmonarius

Treatment of crop residues with some species of white-rot fungi can enhance the nutritive value. After the fungal treatment of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) stover with two white-rot fungi in a solid statefermentation, the chemical composition and in vitro digestibility of the resultant substrate was determined. The results show a significant (p < 0.05) increase in crude protein contents from 2.54% for the control to 4.51% for Pleurotus ostreatus (POS) and 4.59% for Pleurotus sajor pulmonarius (PPT). The nitrogen free extract (NFE) content also increased significantly (p < 0.05). The crude fibre decreased significantly from 31.65% for the control to 27.49% for POS and 23.54% for PPS. There werealso consistent significant decreases (p < 0.05) in the values obtained for NDF, ADF ADL. Significant differences were also observed in the hemicellulose and cellulose contents. Fermentation of the insoluble fraction (b) was enhanced by the fungal treatment. Wide variations were also observed in the mineral contents of the different substrates The estimated organic matter digestibility (OMD) ranged from 42.99 to 57.75%, short chain fatty acid ranged from 0.56 to 0.94 ìM and metabolisable energy (ME) ranged from 5.97 to 8.21 MJ/Kg DM. This result suggests that fungal treatment of sorghum stover resulted in improved CP and digestibility, hence its potential in ruminant nutrition

Importancia económica y generalización de la infestación de ectoparásitos en pollos indígenas (Gallus gallus domesticus). Un estudio de los consejos de gobiernos locales seleccionados y estados en Nigeria

A cross sectional study was conducted from June 2016 to August 2017 to identify the widespread of ectoparasites in indigenous chickens and its associated economic significance in randomly selected Local Government Councils and States in Nigeria. A total of 1025 indigenous chickens were examined out of which 90.7% were infested with one or more ectoparasites species. Four types of ectoparasites genera were encountered in this study, 17.0% of the total chickens examined were infested with only one genera while 73.9% were infested with two or more different genera. Among the ectoparasites encountered, lice infestation (85.8%) was the most prevalent followed by mite (70.4%), Flea (27.3%) and tick (6.2%) in descending order of widespread. Ten different species of ectoparasites, namely Menopon gallinae, Lipeurus caponis, Goniodes gigas, Cnemidocoptes mutans, Dermanyssus gallinae, Epidermoptes species, Laminosioptes cysticola, Megninia species, Echidnophaga gallinacean and Argas persicus were identified in the study. Menopon gallinae (50%) was most frequently encountered while Megninia species (2.7%) was least prevalent. The findings of this study showed that ectoparasites infestations were highly prevalent among indigenous chicken flocks, which may likely affect their optimum productivity. Routine prevention and control of ectoparasites should be encouraged in the study areasSe realizó un estudio transversal de junio de 2016 a agosto de 2017 para identificar la propagación de ectoparásitos en pollos nativos y su significado económico asociado en los Consejos de Gobierno Local seleccionados al azar y en los Estados de Nigeria. Se examinaron un total de 1.025 pollos indígenas, de los cuales el 90.7% fueron infestados con una o más especies de ectoparásitos. En este estudio se encontraron cuatro tipos de géneros de ectoparásitos, el 17.0% del total de pollos examinados fueron infestados con un solo género, mientras que el 73.9% fueron infestados con dos o más géneros diferentes. Entre los ectoparásitos encontrados, la infestación de piojos (85.8%) fue la más prevalente seguida por ácaros (70.4%), Pulgas (27.3%) y garrapatas (6.2%) en orden descendente de diseminación. En el estudio se identificaron diez especies diferentes de ectoparásitos, a saber, Menopon gallinae, Lipeurus caponis, Goniodes gigas, Cnemidocoptes mutans, Dermanyssus gallinae, especies de Epidermoptes, Laminosioptes cysticola, especies de Megninia, Echidnophaga gallinacean y Argas persicus. Menopon gallinae (50%) se encontró con mayor frecuencia, mientras que las especies de Megninia (2,7%) fueron las menos prevalentes. Los hallazgos de este estudio mostraron que las infestaciones de ectoparásitos eran altamente prevalentes entre las parvadas de pollos indígenas, lo que probablemente pueda afectar su productividad óptima. La prevención y el control rutinarios de los ectoparásitos deben fomentarse en las áreas de estudi

Mortality Among Adults With Cancer Undergoing Chemotherapy or Immunotherapy and Infected With COVID-19

Importance: Large cohorts of patients with active cancers and COVID-19 infection are needed to provide evidence of the association of recent cancer treatment and cancer type with COVID-19 mortality. // Objective: To evaluate whether systemic anticancer treatments (SACTs), tumor subtypes, patient demographic characteristics (age and sex), and comorbidities are associated with COVID-19 mortality. // Design, Setting, and Participants: The UK Coronavirus Cancer Monitoring Project (UKCCMP) is a prospective cohort study conducted at 69 UK cancer hospitals among adult patients (≥18 years) with an active cancer and a clinical diagnosis of COVID-19. Patients registered from March 18 to August 1, 2020, were included in this analysis. // Exposures: SACT, tumor subtype, patient demographic characteristics (eg, age, sex, body mass index, race and ethnicity, smoking history), and comorbidities were investigated. // Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary end point was all-cause mortality within the primary hospitalization. // Results: Overall, 2515 of 2786 patients registered during the study period were included; 1464 (58%) were men; and the median (IQR) age was 72 (62-80) years. The mortality rate was 38% (966 patients). The data suggest an association between higher mortality in patients with hematological malignant neoplasms irrespective of recent SACT, particularly in those with acute leukemias or myelodysplastic syndrome (OR, 2.16; 95% CI, 1.30-3.60) and myeloma or plasmacytoma (OR, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.04-2.26). Lung cancer was also significantly associated with higher COVID-19–related mortality (OR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.11-2.25). No association between higher mortality and receiving chemotherapy in the 4 weeks before COVID-19 diagnosis was observed after correcting for the crucial confounders of age, sex, and comorbidities. An association between lower mortality and receiving immunotherapy in the 4 weeks before COVID-19 diagnosis was observed (immunotherapy vs no cancer therapy: OR, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.31-0.86). // Conclusions and Relevance: The findings of this study of patients with active cancer suggest that recent SACT is not associated with inferior outcomes from COVID-19 infection. This has relevance for the care of patients with cancer requiring treatment, particularly in countries experiencing an increase in COVID-19 case numbers. Important differences in outcomes among patients with hematological and lung cancers were observed

Nutritive value and in vitro gas production of fungal treated maize cobs

Pleurotus ostreatus and P. pulmonarius for 21 days as a means of improving their nutritive value for ruminant animals. The substrates obtained after biodegradation were analyzed for the chemical composition, mineral content and in vitro fermentation. The results of the chemical composition showed an increase in the crude protein from 3.89% (control) to 10.11% for Pleurotus ostreatus treated maize cob (POC) and 7.46% for P. pulmonarius (PPC) treated maize cob. On the contrary, the crude fiber (CF) decreased significantly (

Nutritive Value And In Vitro Gas Production Of Fungal Treated Maize Cobs

Studies were conducted to evaluate maize cob cultured with white-rot fungi: Pleurotus ostreatus and P. pulmonarius for 21 days as a means of improving their nutritive value for ruminant animals. The substrates obtained after biodegradation were analyzed for the chemical composition, mineral content and in vitro fermentation. The results of the chemical composition showed an increase in the crude protein from 3.89% (control) to 10.11% for Pleurotus ostreatus treated maize cob (POC) and 7.46% for P. pulmonarius (PPC) treated maize cob. On the contrary, the crude fiber (CF) decreased significantly (p<0.05) from 28.69 % in the control to 19.53% in POC and 21.48% in PPC. Decrease in the values of neutral detergent fiber (hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin) and acid detergent fiber (lignin and cellulose) were detected. The value obtained for cellulose ranged from 28.70 to 34.70%; hemicellulose ranged from 19.05 to 23.18% and acid detergent lignin ranged from 12.44 to 16.88%. There were significant (p<0.05) increase in the Calcium, Magnesium, Iron and Manganese contents of the treated substrates compared with the untreated. The fractional fermentation rate (c h -1 ) was highest for PPC followed by POC. The fermentation of the insoluble but degradable fraction (b) increased significantly (p<0.05) from 37.00% in the control to 52.33% in POC and 49.33% in PPC. Gas volume at different incubation period was highest in POC. Methane decreased from 15 ml to 11 ml in the control and PPC, respectively. There were significant (p<0.05) differences among the treated and untreated substrates in terms of estimated metabolisable energy (ME), short chain fatty acid (SCFA) and organic matter digestibility (OMD). The estimated metabolisable energy (ME) ranged from 6.63 to 8.59 MJ/Kg DM for the control and POC. The POC showed the highest values for SCFA 0.9517 (΅m) and OMD (60.75%). The result showed that fungi treated maize cobs had potential of being converted to value added ruminant feed

Use of in vitro gas production technique in the evaluation of fungal treated maize husk

Maize husk is potential feed resources for ruminants if properly harnessed. Its uses is however limited by high fibre content and low digestibility which can be enhanced by fungal treatment. Maize Husk was degraded for 21 days using three different fungi: Pleurotus tuber-regium, Pleurotus ostreatus and Pleurotus pulmonarius. The resulting substrates were analyzed for changes in the chemica composition. The result obtained showed an increase in the crude protein (CP) from 6.62% for the control (untreated maize husk) to 9.25% for the Pleurotus tuber-regium treated maize husk (PTMH), 8.06% for the Pleurotus pulmonarius treated (PPMH) and  7.87% for the Pleurotus ostreatus treated (POMHA) maize husk. Contrarily, the crude fibre (CF) decreased significantly (P&lt;0.05) from 33.19% (UNMH) for the control to 15.62% (PTMH). The CF fractions (NDF, ADF and ADL) also decreased significantly. The gas rate production (c) constant obtained in all the substrates under study were not significant. Gas volumes at 24h highest in PPMH (30ml) with the least recorded in UNMH (15ml). The fermentation of the insoluble, but degradable fraction (b, ml) range from 13 (control) to 27.33 (PPMH). The estimated organic matter digestibility also increased from 33.22% in the control to 46.99% in PPMH treated samples. The highest values in short chain fatty acid (SCFA) 0.657mol and metabolizable energy (ME) 8.19 MJ/Kg DM was also estimated for PPMH. The result obtained in this study showed  improvement in the CP, and in vitro digestibility after fungal treatment suggesting the possibility of recycling maize husk into value added ruminant feed.Keywords: Maize husk, ruminants, in vitro digestibility, fungi, maize hus

Degradation of Crude Protein in Groundnut Cake, Guinea Grass (Panicum Maximum) and Rumen Epithelial Scraping based Diets by West African Dwarf Sheep

Three West African dwarf rams fitted with rumen cannula, were used in a completely randomized design for degradation of crude protein (CP) of groundnut cake (GNC), Panicum maximum, rumen epithelial scraping (RES), and diets containing increasing levels of RES. Concentrate diets were formulated such that 0% (A), 50% (B), and 100% (C) of groundnut cake were replaced with RES in a diet containing 20% GNC. The soluble fraction a, insoluble fraction b and rumen undegradable protein (RUP) obtained for GNC, grass and RES varied significantly (p&lt;0.05). Significant (p&lt;0.05) variations were also observed for a, b and RUP of the test ingredients. Effective degradability (ED) of CP in GNC, grass and RES (at outflow rate of 0.02) were 38.19, 19.63 and 2.13 respectively. The ED values obtained for the diets decreased significantly (p&lt;0.05) with increased inclusion of RES. Panicum maximum and RES contained significantly higher (p&lt;0.05) level of RUP when compared with GNC. The RUP values obtained for the diets were not influenced (p&gt;0.05) by the inclusion of RES. Keywords: Rumen epithelial scraping, degradability, concentrate, cannulated sheep, supplement

Serum biochemical indices and haematology of preweaned west African dwarf lambs fed rumen epithelial scrapings-based diets

This study was undertaken to investigate the effects of dietary inclusion of rumen epithelial scrapings (RES); an erstwhile abattoir waste and environmental pollutant on serum and haematological indices of pre-weaned West African dwarf lambs. Twelve primiparous pre-weaned lambs were randomly assigned to three treatments of four lambs per treatment. Each lamb was allowed to suckle their respective dam thrice daily in addition to supplementary experimental creep diets and water ad libitum. The creep feed was formulated such that 0% (A), 50% (B) and 100% (C) of groundnut cake (GNC) were replaced respectively with RES in diets containing 20% GNC. Values obtained for packed cell volume (PCV %) (26.50&#177;1.55, 31.50&#177;2.18, 24.50&#177;0.65), serum total proteins (g/dl)(5.90&#177;0.13, 8.15&#177;0.33, 7.08&#177;0.28), calcium (mg/dl) (8.43&#177;0.05, 8.73&#177;0.05, 8.73&#177;0.05), urea (mg/dl) (36.50&#177;1.19, 36.25&#177;0.85, 42.25&#177;2.06) cholesterol(mg/dl) (104.00&#177;2.27, 126.00&#177;2.48, 81.25&#177;1.49) and triglycerides(mg/dl) (86.00&#177;2.94, 98.50&#177;4.19, 58.75&#177;1.49) for lambs on treatments A, B and C respectively significantly varied (p&lt;0.05)with dietary RES inclusion. However, values obtained for serum glucose, creatinine, ALT and AST for lambs on treatments A, B and C respectively were statistically similar (p&gt;0.05). Most indices measured were within thestandard range for lambs. This study underscored the safety and suitability of dietary rumen epithelial scrapings based diets for pre-weaned lambs