Assessment of Helminth Infections in Goats Slaughtered in an Abattoir in a suburb of Accra, Ghana

A cross-sectional study to evaluate parasitic infections in small ruminants was conducted in an abattoir in a suburb of Accra from January to March 2015. Samples from various sections of the gut of 35 goats, either reared in Ghana or imported from Burkina Faso, were analyzed using the Kato-Katz technique. The overall prevalence was 100%. The proportions of goats infected with each parasite type were 100%, 94.4%, 88.6%,80.5%, 68.6 62.8% and 44.4% respectively for Strongyloides sp., tapeworms, Ascaris sp., Fasciola hepatica, Trichuris sp., Haemonchus contortus and Schistosoma haematobium. The proportion of animals infected with Haemonchus contortus was significantly higher in imported goats than those reared locally (p<0.05). The mean intensity of infection was low for all the parasites. However, high diversity of parasites with 80% of goats having at least four parasite types was observed. The data show high multiple infections in the goats brought to the slaughter house and suggest the need to institute appropriate measures to curb the problem

Prevalence of Snail Vectors of Schistosomiasis in the Kpong Head Pond, Ghana

Schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease caused by the blood fluke Schistosoma sp. became a serious public health problem in Ghana after the Volta River was dammed in Akosombo in 1964. The formation of the Kpong head pond, about 25 km below the Akosombo dam, as a result of a second dam built at Kpong became an active schistosomiasis transmission site. The Volta River Authority (VRA) recently began an initiative of combining manual clearing of aquatic vegetation with chemotherapy as a way of managing the disease. However, no scientific monitoring of the effect of aquatic weed clearing on the vector population is being conducted. The study was initiated in the Kpong head pond to provide baseline data for subsequent monitoring and impact assessment of the initiative. It involved sampling of the banks of the head pond for aquatic snails at six different sampling sites of 1 m2 each, chosen at 100 m interval along the shoreline. Physicochemical factors which affect aquatic snail population were also determined. Aquatic snails sampled were Bulinus truncatus, Bulinus globosus, Biomphalaria pfeifferi, Melanoides spp, Physa waterlotti and Pila sp. where the first three are intermediate host of the schistosoma parasite. The study revealed B. truncates as the most frequent occurring vector (71.0%), followed by Biomphalaria (12.0%) and B. globosus (6.1%) The mean numbers of vector snails sampled per m2 were B. Truncates 61/m2, B. globosus 5/m2, and B. pfeifferi 11/m2. The presence of aquatic weeds and favourable physicochemical conditions of the water were found to provide a conducive environment for the vectors to thrive and hence sustain schistosomiasis transmission in the head pond. It is, therefore, recommended that a 5-year period of studies be undertaken to assess the impact of manual clearing of aquatic weeds on the snail population

Climate variations, urban solid waste management and possible implications for Anopheles mosquito breeding in selected cities of coastal Ghana

Climate-induced environmental changes are known to support prevalence of disease vectors and pathogens. Temperature, rainfall, humidity and other environmental variables are considered potential drivers of population dynamics of many vectors and pathogens of health importance, especially in the tropics. This study was conducted to understand the variability and trends in atmospheric temperature and rainfall, as well as how these factors may affect the breeding of Anopheles mosquitoes in the urban areas in the future. Accra and Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Areas (AMA and STMA) of coastal Ghana were the selected study sites. Anopheles larvae were sampled from pre-identified breeding sites in the two cities. Atmospheric temperature and rainfall as measured by synoptic weather stations were collected for the two cities. Again, thirty years climate data on daily minimum and maximum temperature and rainfall for both cities from Ghana Meteorological Agency (Gmet) were employed in the study. Using a statistical downscaling approach, the average of the ENSEMBLE GCM outputs AR4-BCM2 and AR4-CNCM3 scenario A1B were downscaled to match with rainfall and temperature observations of AMA and STMA. Results showed that improper solid waste management in the cities promote the breeding of Anopheles mosquitoes. Climate data analysis showed that past rainfall in the cities were below average; in the future, however, up to year 2050, the cities may experience high rainfalls and temperatures above the average. Notably, significant increases may be observed in the total monthly rainfalls as well as a slight shift of rainfall pattern in the minor season. This implies that Anopheles mosquito breeding may no longer be seasonal in the cities but perennial and malaria transmission may also follow the same trend. Poor urban dwellers who find it difficult to adopt preventative measures will be prone to persistent malaria transmission. This will increase malaria transmission among vulnerable populations in urban areas. This study recommends that city authorities must intentionally work at lowering the surface temperatures in the cities through the growing of trees and also to regularly desilt drains in order to reduce the breeding of Anopheles mosquitoes

Intestinal Parasites of the Grasscutter (Thryonomys swinderianus Temminck 1827) from the Kwaebibirem District of the Eastern Region of Ghana

The profiles of intestinal parasites of the grasscutter were investigated in 21 grasscutters collected from Kwaebibirem District in the Eastern Region of Ghana between January and April 2005. The aim of the study was to investigate the parasitic profile of the grasscutter in a forest zone and provide information for grasscutter farming. The intestinal content of the animals were examined with the aid of a hand lens, a microscope and direct smear method. The parasites identified include helminthes such as Ancylostoma sp., Trichuris sp., Ascaris sp., Hymenolepis sp. and Schistosoma haematobium, and protozoans such as Giardia sp. and Entamoeba sp. Almost all (95.2%) of the grasscutters were infected with Ancylostoma sp., the most prevalent parasite species in the study, followed by Giardia sp. (85.7%). More than 80% of the grasscutters were infected with at least four parasite species and 33% were infected with at least five parasite species. The study,  therefore, prescribes routine treatment of grasscutters obtained from the wild before they are domesticated or added to the already domesticated ones. This will help prevent reduced productivity due to parasitic infections

Red-Green Colour Deficiencies and the Study of Science, Computer Usage and Internet Browsing

Colour blindness is the inability to perceive differences between some or all colours that other people can distinguish. It is most often of genetic nature but may also occur because of eye, nerve or brain damage or due to exposure to some chemicals. The most common type of colour vision deficiency is red-green colour blindness. Types of red-green colour blindness include pro-tanopia, deuteranopia, protanomalia and deuteranomalia which denote lack of ability to distin-guish between colours in the green-yellow-red section of the spectrum in addition to abnormal diming, lack of ability to distinguish between colours in the green-yellow-red section of the spec-trum but without abnormal diming, less sensitivity to red and weakness in perception of green respectively. This study investigated the prevalence and impact of colour blindness on the study of science and on Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) usage such as com-puter usage and internet browsing. The study participants were science students aged between fifteen and twenty-three whose courses such as Chemistry and Biology require identification, naming and matching of colours. The study was done using the Ishihara 24 plate edition which the participants examined and the numerals identified were recorded without more than three seconds delay. Questionnaires were administered to participants who tested positive for colour blindness. Out of 1194 male students sampled, 1.2% were colour blind. None of the 566 females included in the study was colour blind. Twelve (12) of the male participants were either deuter-anopes, strong deuteranomalous, mild protanomalous, mild deuteranomalous, protanopes or strong protanomalous while 2 students had other forms of red-green colour blindness that could not be classified with the Ishihara plates. The deutan type was the most common red-green defi-ciency in this study accounting for 64% of all types. There was no significant difference between prevalence of red-green colour blindness at the secondary and tertiary levels (p>0.05). Colour blind students who experienced difficulties in their studies such as difficulties in performing practicals and internet browsing that require them to identify, name or discriminate colours, managed these difficulties by employing the help of their mates. The results suggest that red-green colour vision deficiency may influence but does not prevent study of science, computer usage or internet browsing and that some red-green colour blind science students may need help