Identification and Antibiotic Susceptibility Pattern of Enterobacteriaceae Isolated from Gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus)

Diseases and infections which are naturally transmitted between animals and humans are of major concern worldwide. Geckos (Hemidactylus frenatus) are known to be potential reservoirs of many zoonotic enteropathogens. This study was designed to isolate, identify, and evaluate the antibiotic susceptibility pattern of Enterobacteriaceae from Geckos. Using standard microbiological procedures, bacteria were isolated from 138 intestinal samples of Hemidactylus frenatus collected from different sampling sites. A total of 20 bacterial species of 9 different genera were identified using automated Colorimetry VITEK 2 system. The percentage occurrences were Enterobacter aerogenes (35%), Proteus mirabilis (15%), Salmonella ser paratyphi B (10%), Serratia fonticola (10%), Enterobacter kobei (10%), Raoultella ornithinolytica (5%), Sphingomonas paucimobilis (5%), Acinetobacter baumannii, (5%) and Burkholderia cepacia (5%). Results obtained from the antibiotic susceptibility pattern according to CLSI guidelines revealed that all the 20 bacterial species have varying rate of resistance with 20 (100%) showing resistance to Ciprofloxacin (CPX), 20 (100%) Pefloxacin (PEF), 19 (95%), Augmentin (AU), 11 (55%) Cotrimoxazole (CXT), 10 (50%) Streptomycin (S), 9 (45%) Chloramphenicol (CH), 6 (30%) Gentamycin (CN), 3 (15%) Ofloxacin (OFX). This study revealed that Enterobacteriaceae in the intestine of Geckos are multidrug resistant and are potentially harmful when in contact directly or indirectly with humans. It becomes important to educate people on the importance of personal hygiene in order to eradicate Geckos from our environment

The practice of hepatocellular cancer surveillance in Nigeria

Background: Hepatocellular cancer is a disease of global and public health importance due to the widespread distribution of risk factors and associated high case fatality. Hepatocellular Cancer (HCC) in Sub-Saharan Africa is commonly seen among the younger age groups (<45 years) who present mostly in the terminal stage, when the disease is not amenable to any curative therapy. Hepatocellular Carcinoma surveillance employs the use of simple, cheap and readily available investigations, to detect early curable cancer in individuals with risk factors for HCC.Objectives:The aim of this study is to assess the practice of hepatocellular cancer screening among physicians.Methodolgy:This is a nationwide online survey carried out among physicians who care for patients with HCC. A questionnaire was sent out via a web link to all consenting doctors in Nigeria. The responses were collated in a cloud-based application and data was analysed using Epi-info version 20.Results:Atotal of 218 respondents, 142 were males (65.1 %) with a mean age of 37.6 ± 5.7 years. The modal age group was 31-40 years 153 (69.5%). The main factors considered as a hindrance to surveillance were; the cost of the tests (57.7%), failure of return of patients (50.5%) and not being aware of a surveillance program (45.2 %). The majority of the respondents were Gastroenterologists and Family Physicians. 54% of the gastroenterologists and 64% of the family physicians have never offered HCC surveillance to their patients.Conclusion:This survey highlights a knowledge gap in HCC surveillance among physicians. There is a need to make HCCsurveillance a daily routine among patients at risk by all physicians. Keywords: Surveillance, Hepatocellular Carcinoma, HBV, HCV, Cancer screening

Cross-ancestry genome-wide association analysis of corneal thickness strengthens link between complex and Mendelian eye diseases

Central corneal thickness (CCT) is a highly heritable trait associated with complex eye diseases such as keratoconus and glaucoma. We perform a genome-wide association meta-analysis of CCT and identify 19 novel regions. In addition to adding support for known connective tissue-related pathways, pathway analyses uncover previously unreported gene sets. Remarkably, >20% of the CCT-loci are near or within Mendelian disorder genes. These included FBN1, ADAMTS2 and TGFB2 which associate with connective tissue disorders (Marfan, Ehlers-Danlos and Loeys-Dietz syndromes), and the LUM-DCN-KERA gene complex involved in myopia, corneal dystrophies and cornea plana. Using index CCT-increasing variants, we find a significant inverse correlation in effect sizes between CCT and keratoconus (r =-0.62, P = 5.30 × 10-5) but not between CCT and primary open-angle glaucoma (r =-0.17, P = 0.2). Our findings provide evidence for shared genetic influences between CCT and keratoconus, and implicate candidate genes acting in collagen and extracellular matrix regulation

Geographical and temporal distribution of SARS-CoV-2 clades in the WHO European Region, January to June 2020

We show the distribution of SARS-CoV-2 genetic clades over time and between countries and outline potential genomic surveillance objectives. We applied three available genomic nomenclature systems for SARS-CoV-2 to all sequence data from the WHO European Region available during the COVID-19 pandemic until 10 July 2020. We highlight the importance of real-time sequencing and data dissemination in a pandemic situation. We provide a comparison of the nomenclatures and lay a foundation for future European genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2.Peer reviewe

Nutrient and phytochemical composition of two traditional soups used by malaria patients and post partum mothers in Owo, Ondo State

Background: Indigenous tribes in Nigeria have been using herbal mixture such as soups for therapeutic purpose with limited knowledge on their nutrients and phytochemical components.Objective: The nutrients and phytochemicals composition of two soups consumed by postpartum mothers and malaria patients in Owo were investigated.Methods: Ingredients such as cotton seed, beef, fish, black pepper, calabash nutmeg, turmeric, scent leaf, garlic, palm oil, back of mahogany tree and octomeles sumatrana 'erima' seed were procured, processed and prepared according to local methods into two samples of soups. The ingredients for the cotton seed soup and scent leaf soup samples were similar except for sample cotton seed soup that contain, back of mahogany tree and cotton seeds. One hundred grammes of each soup samples were subjected to proximate, phytochemical and instrumental analyses (AAS for minerals and Vitamins with Gc-HP 6890 powered with HP chemstation Rev. A09.01 (1206) software. Descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation were used to analyze data generated and t-test was used in Separation of meansResults: Findings showed that the protein content was significantly (P>0.05) higher in Scent leaf soup (21.85%) than in cotton seed soup (20.63%). No significant difference was observed in the minerals composition of the soups except for iron content of cotton seed soup (23.75mg/100g) that was significantly higher (P>0.05) than that of sent leaf soup (20.85mg/100g). There were significant differences (P>0.05) in the values of vitamin C (14.85 vs 3.04mg/100g), vitamin E (5.72 vs 8.72mg/100g), and vitamin B1 (8.61 vs 9.72mg/100g) of cotton seed and sent leaf soups. Phytate (8.24%) and alkaloid (1.61%) were significantly higher in scent leaf and cotton seed soup respectively.Conclusion: The high nutrients diversity and phytochemicals in the two soups might be responsible for their therapeutic effect on postpartum mothers and malaria treatment.Keywords: Traditional soups, Nutrients Composition, Postpartum, Malari