Prevalence of Thermophilic Campylobacter species in carcasses from sheep and goats in an abattoir in Debre Zeit area, Ethiopia

Background: Thermophilic Campylobacter spp. namely, Campylobacter jejuni and coli cause acute diarrheal diseases in humans worldwide; although these species are known to occur in the intestinal tract of a wide variety of domestic and wild animals. Objective: Little is known about the presence of these bacteria in various food animals as possible sources of infection to humans in Ethiopia. Therefore this study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of thermophilic Campylobacter species in sheep and goat carcasses at a private export abattoir in Debre-Zeit, Ethiopia.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on apparently healthy sheep and goat slaughtered at a private export abattoir in Debre-Zeit, from October 2007 to March 2008. Sheep carcasses (mutton) (n=218) and goat carcasses (n=180) were analyzed for Campylobacter spp. Swabs were taken from four different sites on the carcasses (crutch, abdomen, thorax and breast) at different stages of slaughtering processes (before evisceration, after evisceration and after washing). Results: Campylobacter spp were isolated from 40 (10.1%) out of 398 carcasses examined. There was no statistically significant difference in the rate of isolation of Campylobacter species in different swabbing sites. Of the 40 thermophilic campylobacter isolates, C. jejuni and C. coli accounted for 29 (72.5%) and 11 (27.5%), respectively. Conclusions: The results of this study revealed the presence of campylobacter in sheep and goat carcasses, indicatingpossible risks of infection to people through the consumption of raw/under-cooked meat. Coordinated actions are needed to reduce or eliminate the risks posed by this organism at various stages of slaughtering process

Spectral soil analysis for fertilizer recommendations by coupling with QUEFTS for maize in East Africa: A sensitivity analysis

Laboratory analysis of soil properties is prohibitively expensive and difficult to scale across the soils in sub Saharan Africa. This results in a lack of soil-specific fertilizer recommendations, where recommendation can only be provided at a regional scale. This study aims to assess the feasibility of using spectral soil analysis to provide soil-specific fertilizer recommendations. Using a range of spectrometers [NeoSpectra Saucer (NIR), FieldSpec 4 (vis-NIR) with contact probe or mug light interface, FTIR Bruker Tensor 27 (MIR)], 346 archived soil samples (0–20 cm) with known soil chemical properties collected from Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania were scanned. Partial least square regression (PLSR) was used to develop prediction models for selected soil properties including pH, soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen, Olsen P, and exchangeable K. These predicted properties, and associated uncertainty, were used to derive fertilizer recommendations for maize using the Quantitative Evaluation of the Fertility of Tropical Soils (QUEFTS) model parameters for sub-Saharan Africa. Most soil properties (pH, SOC, total nitrogen, and exchangeable K) were well predicted (Concordance Correlation Coefficient values between 0.88 and 0.96 and Ratio of Performance to Interquartile values between 1.4 and 5.9) by all the spectrometers but there were performance variations between soil properties and spec- trometers. Use of the predicted soil data for the development of fertilizer recommendations gave promising results when compared to the recommendations obtained with the conventional soil analysis. For example, the least performing NeoSpectra Saucer over/under-estimated up to 8 and 24 kg ha-1N and P, respectively, though there was insignificant variation in estimation of P fertilizer among spectrometers. We conclude that spectral technology can be used to determine major soil properties with satisfactory precision, sufficient for specific fertilizer decision making in East Africa, possibly even with portable equipment in the fiel

Absorbable versus silk sutures for surgical treatment of trachomatous trichiasis in Ethiopia: a randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Trachoma causes blindness through an anatomical abnormality called trichiasis (lashes touching the eye). Trichiasis can recur after corrective surgery. We tested the hypothesis that using absorbable sutures instead of silk sutures might reduce the risk of recurrent disease among patients with major trichiasis in a randomised trial. METHODS AND FINDINGS: 1,300 individuals with major trichiasis from rural villages in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia were recruited and assigned (1:1) by computer-generated randomisation sequence to receive trichiasis surgery using either an absorbable suture (polyglactin-910) or silk sutures (removed at 7-10 days) in an otherwise identical surgical technique. Participants were examined every 6 months for 2 years by clinicians masked to allocation. The primary outcome measure was recurrent trichiasis (≥one lash touching the eye) at 1 year. There was no difference in prevalence of recurrent trichiasis at 1 year (114 [18.2%] in the absorbable suture group versus 120 [19.7%] in the silk suture group; odds ratio = 0.90, 95% CI 0.68-1.20). The two groups also did not differ in terms of corneal opacification, visual acuity, conjunctival inflammation, and surgical complications. CONCLUSIONS: There was no evidence that use of absorbable polyglactin-910 sutures was associated with a lower prevalence of trichiasis recurrence at 1 year postsurgery than silk sutures. However, from a programmatic perspective, polyglactin-910 offers the major advantage that patients do not have to be seen soon after surgery for suture removal. The postoperative review after surgery using absorbable polyglactin-910 sutures can be delayed for 3-6 months, which might allow us to better determine whether a patient needs additional surgery. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00522860

Feeding your soil-nurturing the people

United States Agency for International Developmen

Decision support tools for fertilizer recommendation

United States Agency for International Developmen

Natural resource management: Africa RISING science, innovations and technologies with scaling potential from the Ethiopian highlands

United States Agency for International Developmen

Dendritic Cells Activate and Mature after Infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Dendritic cells (DCs) can take up an array of different antigens, including microorganisms which they can process and present more effectively than any other antigen presenting cell. However, whether the interaction between the human DC and <it>Mycobacterium tuberculosis </it>represents a defense mechanism by the invaded host, or helping the invader to evade the defense mechanism of the host is still not clearly understood.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>To analyze the interactions between <it>M. tuberculosis </it>and immune cells, human peripheral blood monocyte-derived immature DCs were infected with <it>M. tuberculosis </it>H37Rv wild type strain and flow cytometry was used to analyse cell surface expression markers. The ability of the <it>M. tuberculosis </it>infected DC to induce T cell proliferation using 5 and 6-carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester (CFSE) dilution technique was also investigated. DCs were found to internalize the mycobacteria and show dose dependent infection and necrosis with different multiplicity of infection. Flow cytometry analysis of cell surface expression markers CD40, CD54, CD80, CD83, CD86 and HLA DR in infected DC revealed significant (p < 0.05) up regulation following infection with <it>M. tuberculosis </it>in comparison to immature DC with no stimulation. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from <it>Salmonella abortus equi</it>, a known DC maturation agent, was used as a positive control and showed a comparable up regulation of cell surface markers as observed with <it>M. tuberculosis </it>infected DC. It was revealed that the <it>M. tuberculosis </it>infected DC induced T cell proliferation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These data clearly demonstrate that <it>M. tuberculosis </it>induces activation and maturation of human monocyte-derived immature DC as well as induces T cell proliferation <it>in vitro</it>.</p

Decision support tools for farm-level fertilizer recommendation in Ethiopia

United States Agency for International Developmen

Clinical disorders affecting mesopic vision

Vision in the mesopic range is affected by a number of inherited and acquired clinical disorders. We review these conditions and summarize the historical background, describing the clinical characteristics alongside the genetic basis and molecular biological mechanisms giving rise to rod and cone dysfunction relevant to twilight vision. The current diagnostic gold standards for each disease are discussed and curative and symptomatic treatment strategies are summarized