Performance nutrient digestibility and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens fed replacement levels of rumen filtrate fermented Shea nut (Vitellaria paradoxa) meal for groundnut meal

A study was conducted using one hundred and eighty (180) day-old  Hubbard broiler chicks to determine growth performance, nutrient  digestibility and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens fed replacement levels of rumen filtrate fermented shea nut (Vitellaria paradoxa, Gaertn.)  meal for groundnut meal. The chicks were randomly allotted to four dietary treatments. Each treatment was replicated three times with 15 birds per replicate. Four feeds were formulated for the four treatment groups. Dietary replacement levels of rumen filtrate fermented Shea-nut meal for groundnut meal were 0, 5, 10 and 15 %. The experimental design used  was the completely randomized design (CRD). Nutrient digestibility trial was conducted at the end of the eighth (8th) week. Data collected included feed intake, weight gain, carcass characteristics, feed conversion ratio and  organoleptic properties. The fermentation of Shea nut meal with rumen filtrate led to a significant increase in the tannin content of the Shea nut meal. Results obtained indicates that there were no significant (P>0.05) difference among the treatment groups in total feed intake and average daily feed intake. Chicks fed the control diet had significantly (P<0.05) higher final weight (1192.52 g), total weight gain (1155.30 g) and average daily weight gain (18.34 g) compared to the other dietary treatments. Apparent nutrient digestibility trial results indicated a decrease in the values of crude protein, crude fibre, ether extract and dry matter as the level of rumen filtrate fermented shea-nut meal replacement level  increased. This observation was opposite in the mortality result. Also, no significant (P>0.05) difference among the treatment groups in the cost of total feed intake to final weight were observed. It was concluded that the use of rumen filtrate fermented Shea nut meal at 5 to 15 % levels as a replacement for groundnut meal did not have significant improvement on the growth performance and nutrients digestibility in broiler chickens while an alternative method may be found to reduce the anti-nutritional factors in Shea nut meal.Keywords : Shea nut, digestibility, rumen filtrate, groundnut meal

Protection against meningococcal serogroup ACYW disease in complement-deficient individuals vaccinated with the tetravalent meningococcal capsular polysaccharide vaccine

Individuals with properdin, C3 or late complement component deficiency (LCCD) frequently develop meningococcal disease. Vaccination of these persons has been recommended, although reports on efficacy are scarce and not conclusive. We immunized 53 complement-deficient persons, of whom 19 had properdin deficiency, seven a C3 deficiency syndrome and 27 had LCCD with the tetravalent (ACYW) meningococcal capsular polysaccharide vaccine. Serological studies were performed in 43 of them. As controls 25 non-complement-deficient relatives of the complement-deficient vaccinees and 21 healthy non-related controls were vaccinated. Post-vaccination, complement-deficient individuals and controls developed a significant immunoglobulin-specific antibody response to capsular polysaccharides group A, C, Y, W135, but a great individual variation was noticed. Also, the proportion of vaccinees of the various vaccinated groups with a significant increase in bactericidal titre (assayed with heterologous complement) was similar. Opsonization of meningococci A and W135 with sera of the 20 LCCD individuals yielded in 11 (55%) and eight (40%) sera a significant increase of phagocytic activity after vaccination, respectively. Despite vaccination, four complement-deficient patients experienced six episodes of meningococcal disease in the 6 years post-vaccination. Four episodes were due to serogroup B, not included in the vaccine. Despite good response to serogroup Y upon vaccination, disease due to serogroup Y occurred in two C8β-deficient patients, 3.5 and 5 years post-vaccination. These results support the recommendation to vaccinate complement-deficient individuals and to revaccinate them every 3 years