Soil transmitted helminth infection among farmers in Ukwa West Local Government Area, Abia State, south-east, Nigeria

Background: Farmers like most groups of workers are faced with a multiplicity of hazards and biological hazards like Soil Transmitted Helminths - a major Public health problem in the tropical like Nigeria is one of them. This study was to determine the prevalence of Soil-Transmitted Helminths (STHs) infections among farmers in Ukwa West Local Government Area (LGA) of Abia State,South East Nigeria.Methods: Following ethical clearance,290 consenting farmers were recruited to participate in this descriptive cross sectional study. They responded to pre-tested, structured, close ended interviewer administered questionnaires which probed socio-demographics,knowledge and behaviour towards STHs.Also, stool and blood samples were collected from participants and examined for helminth ova and estimation of packed cell volume respectively.A Walk Through Survey of the farms for immediate work place situation and safety was carried out. Collected data were analysed using descriptive and analytical tools.Results: There was a 33.1% prevalence of infection with STHs and a 67.6% prevalence of anaemia among respondents. Hookworm had the highest (59.6%) prevalence just as anaemia amongst farmers with STHs was higher than among respondents who were not diagnosed with the disease.Knowledge of STHs and the availability and use of personal protective equipment (PPEs) were poor.Conclusion: There was a high prevalence of STHs among farmers in Ukwa West Local Government Area of Abia State, South East Nigeria occasioned inter alia by the behaviour and poor use of PPEs. Health Education, routine de-worming and use of PPEs are recommended.Keywords: Farmers,Soil Transmitted Helmints,anaemi

Performance evaluation and nutrient digestibility of rabbits fed dietary prebiotics, probiotics and symbiotics

A total of 32 weaned rabbits (56 days old; 586 ± 60.31g body weight) were selected to investigate the effect of dietary growth promoters on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility and carcass characteristics of rabbits. The rabbits were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments (n = 8) including a basal diet (control), diet 2 (prebiotics: Biotronic®, 4kg/ton), diet 3 (probiotics: Biovet®-YC 500g/ton) and diet 4 (Symbiotic: Biotronic®, 4kg/ton and Biovet®-YC, 500g/ton) in a 12-week feeding trial. Body weight (BW), daily weight gain (DWG), daily feed intake (DFI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) of individual rabbits were monitored throughout the experimental period. Feed and faecal samples were collected and analyzed for nutrient digestibility at the last week of the experiment. Five rabbits per treatment were euthanized for carcass characteristics at the end of the feeding trial. The supplementation of prebiotics and symbiotics to rabbit diets significantly (P<0.05) increased the FBW, DWG and FCR compared to probiotic diet and the control. However, the daily feed intake was not significantly affected among the dietary treatments. The nutrient digestibility of the rabbits was significantly (P<0.05) influenced by the dietary treatments. There were significant (P<0.05) differences in the dry matter, crude protein, crude fibre, ash, ether extract, and nitrogen free extracts among the dietary treatments. The addition of growth promoting additives had no significant effect on the carcass characteristics measured except the right arms of the experimental rabbits. The results suggest that the prebiotic and symbiotic supplementation can be alternated as natural growth promoter in antibiotic free rabbit diets. This will enhance growth performance by increasing nutrient digestibility of rabbits.Key words: Prebiotics, Probiotics, Symbiotics, Rabbits, Performance, Digestibility

Climate change, environmental security and displacement in Nigeria: Experience from the Niger Delta Flood Disaster, 2012

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A study of the effects of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) smoking on the oral health status of students in three tertiary institutions in Enugu Metropolis, Enugu State, Nigeria

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Isolation of virulent newcastle disease virus(NDV) strain among apparently healthy free-roaming local chickens (Galus Domesticus)in Nsukka, Nigeria

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Inhibitory effect of Zanthoxylum macrophylla and corhorus olitorius root extracts on streptococcus species isolated from carious lesions

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Identification of mild strains of Newcastle disease virus(NCV) in free-living pigeons and turkeys in Nsukka, Nigeria

No Abstract

THE IMPACT OF FOOD SECURITY AND POVERTY STATUS ON RURAL HOUSEHOLD FARMERS IN IKWO, EBONYI STATE, NIGERIA

Issues relating to food availability, accessibility/affordability, and food utilization remain of utmost importance to various stakeholders including policymakers and academics. As food security becomes a concern, poverty deepens systematically, and the meager income earned could not cover basic needs. The objective of this work was to analyze the food security and poverty status of the household farmers in Ikwo., Ebonyi State, Nigeria. For this study, a multistage sampling technique was used to select seventy-five farming households using a structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study used, Radimer/ Cornell’s questionnaire to measure the food insecurity of households; the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke model was used to measure the poverty status and Logit regression for determinants of food security. The food insecurity measure showed that 74.7% of the households were food secure. This showed that the monthly expenditures of 75% of the households were above the food security index. The poverty measure of the households shows that 21.3% points of the households express the incidence of poverty while 6.63% points and 2.81% points were found to have depth and severity of incidence of poverty, respectively. One out of the nine variables used as predictors of food security was statistically significant at p<0.05 level of probability. The Logit regression model indicated that income significantly influenced food security scenarios with respect to some of the indicators such as gender of household head, age of household head, farm size, farming experience, household size and education. The households’ coping strategies were reduction in meal size by 85.3%, purchasing simple foods (78.7%), and extra income-generating activities (76.0%). The study concluded that most of the households were food secure and 21.3% fell below the poverty line. The Government should provide credible sources to enable farming households increase production and earn more income