Aspects épidémiologiques et étiologiques des affections pulmonaires d’origine parasitaire et fongique en milieu hospitalier à Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso)

Dans le souci de déterminer l’aspect épidémiologique et étiologique des affections pulmonaires d’origines parasitaire et fongique, une étude prospective transversale a été réalisée en milieu hospitalier à Ouagadougou de novembre 2012 en mai 2013, sur 103 patients suspectés avoir la maladie. Les examens parasitologiques, mycologiques et immunologiques ont été effectués selon les indications des prescripteurs, sur des prélèvements du liquide de lavage broncho-alvéolaire, du liquide pleural, des expectorations et du sang. A l’issue de ces examens, 59,2% des patients confirmés porteurs de parasites et/ou de mycètes dans leur appareil pulmonaire avec une prédominance des cultivateurs (26,2%) ont été détectés. Les hommes étaient les plus touchés avec un sex-ratio de 1,9. Parmi les antécédents médicaux, il y a eu une fréquence élevée des sujets à sérologie VIH positive. Trois parasites et 71 souches de champignons ont été isolés dont 4 types de coinfections fongiques. Ces données de bases montrent que les parasites et les champignons provoquent une pathologie pulmonaire non spécifique sur le plan clinique, radiologique et endoscopique. Le contexte épidémiologique et biologique permet d’orienter le diagnostic. La confirmation est apportée par la mise en évidence directe ou par des arguments indirects sérologiques. Ce qui permet d’obtenir une guérison par un traitement adapté au germe en cause.Mots clés : Affection pulmonaire, parasites, champignons, Burkina Faso

Gamma-sarcoglycanopathy (LGMD 2C) with Del 525T mutation: Report of the first familial case in Niger

We are reporting a familial case of limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD) upon 5 out of 6 siblings from parents showing no evidence of muscular dystrophy. The pedigree of the family up to five generations did not reveal any known case in the past even though consanguinity was reported. The clinical observations revealed wheelchair bound or difficulties for walking in all affected subjects, due to muscular dystrophy involving mainly the pelvic girdle. Creatine phosphoKinase (CK) was higher than normal values in both affected children and their parents. The scanning of thigh showed in all patients, an atrophy of the quadriceps with fatty conversion. Molecular analysis was carried out, first using western blot, which revealed gammasacoglycan deficiency and second, by gene screening, which showed Del 525T mutation. This mutation is most widespread in arabo-berbères tribes including Touaregs. The present cases are in our knowledge the first reported in that part of Africa, south of Maghreb. We make a focus on histological and molecular bases of the LGMD.Keywords: gamma-sarcoglycanopathy, LGMD 2C, Del 525T mutation, Nige

Evaluation of the antimicrobial susceptibility testing process in clinical microbiology laboratories at Niamey, Niger

Background: Risk assessment is the means of identifying and evaluating potential errors or problems that may occur in testing process. The aim of this study was to perform risk assessment of antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) process in clinical microbiology laboratories of Niamey, Niger Republic.Methodology: We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study from October 1 to December 31, 2019, to evaluate AST performance in seven clinical microbiology laboratories at Niamey, the capital city of Niger republic. The evaluation focused on the determination of the criticality index (CI) of each critical point (frequency of occurrence of anomalies, severity of the process anomaly, and detectability of the anomaly during the process) in the AST process and the performance of the AST through an observation sheet using two reference strains; Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213.Results: The criticality index (CI) was greater than 6 for most of the critical points related to material, medium, equipment, method and labour for the AST process in all the laboratories. A range of 18-100% errors on the inhibition zone diameters of the reference strains were observed. Major and/or minor categorization (Sensitive S, Intermediate I and Resistance R) discrepancies were found at all the laboratories for either one or both reference strains. The antibiotics most affected by the S/I/R discrepancies were trimethoprim (100%), vancomycin (100%), amoxicillin (80%) and amoxicillin + clavulanic acid (70%).Conclusion: This study showed a deficiency in the control of critical control points that impacts the performance of the AST reported by the laboratories in Niger. Corrective actions are needed to improve the performance of AST in clinical microbiology laboratories in Niger.   French title: Evaluation du processus de réalisation de l’antibiogramme dans les laboratoires d’analyses de biologie médicale de la ville de Niamey, Niger Contexte: L'évaluation des risques est le moyen d'identifier et d'évaluer les erreurs ou les problèmes potentiels qui peuvent survenir dans le processus de test. L'objectif de cette étude était de réaliser une évaluation des risques du processus d'antibiogramme (ABG) dans les laboratoires de microbiologie clinique de Niamey, en République du Niger.Méthodologie: Nous avons mené une étude transversale descriptive du 1er octobre au 31 décembre 2019 pour évaluer la performance des ABG dans sept laboratoires de microbiologie clinique à Niamey, capitale de la république du Niger. L'évaluation a porté sur la détermination de l'indice de criticité (IC) de chaque point critique (fréquence d'apparition des anomalies, gravité de l'anomalie du processus et détectabilité de l'anomalie au cours du processus) dans le processus et la performance des AGB à travers une fiche d'observation en utilisant deux souches de référence; Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 et Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213.Résultats: L'indice de criticité était supérieur à 6 pour la plupart des points critiques liés au matériel, au milieu, à l'équipement, à la méthode et à la main-d'oeuvre pour le processus AST dans tous les laboratoires. Une fourchette d'erreurs de 18 à 100% sur les diamètres des zones d'inhibition des souches de référence a été observée. Des écarts de catégorisation majeurs et/ou mineurs (Sensible: S, Intermédiaire: I et Résistance: R) ont été constatés dans tous les laboratoires pour l'une ou les deux souches de référence. Les  antibiotiques les plus touchés par les écarts S/I/R étaient la triméthoprime (100%), la vancomycine (100%), l'amoxicilline (80%) et l'amoxicilline + acide clavulanique (70%).Conclusion: Cette étude a montré une déficience dans le contrôle des points de contrôle critiques qui a un impact sur la performance de l'antibiogramme rapportée par les laboratoires au Niger. Des actions correctives sont nécessaires pour améliorer la performance des ABG dans les laboratoires de microbiologie clinique au Niger

Mechanisms of adaptation to climate variability in West African pearl millet landraces – a preliminary

Landraces are generally expected to possess specific mechanisms of adaptation to their growing environments. In West and Central Africa (WCA), growing conditions of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) are characterized, among other hazards, by highly variable beginnings and endings of the rainy season, and unpredictable drought stress at any time during the growing season. Adaptation to such unpredictable variable environment can be due to individual and/or populational buffering (Allard and Bradshaw 1964), two mechanisms initially defined by Lerner (1954) as developmental and genetic homeostasis. Individual buffering may be favored by phenotypic plasticity. Photoperiod-sensitive flowering is an example of phenotypic plasticity that can enhance adaptation to variable planting dates followed due to a scattered beginning of the rainy season in a region, as typical for WCA. It enhances simultaneous flowering of the cultivar in the target region, independent of the individual date of planting in different fields. This has particular advantages in terms of reducing bird damage and insect pressure; prolonging vegetative development in case of early planting but accelerating development in case of late planting; therefore fitting plant development to available rainfall patterns and resulting potentially in increased yielding stability. Populational buffering can be promoted by genetic heterogeneity in plant stand as different genotypes present in the population are specifically adapted to different environmental conditions (Bradshaw 1965). An example is intra-varietal variation for flowering time, which would assure that in case of a dry spell, not all plants in the field will be affected by drought in their most sensitive flowering stage

Agroforesterie et services écosystémiques en zone tropicale

Respectueux de l’environnement et garantissant une sécurité alimentaire soutenue par la diversification des productions et des revenus qu’ils procurent, les systèmes agroforestiers apparaissent comme un modèle prometteur d’agriculture durable dans les pays du Sud les plus vulnérables aux changements globaux. Cependant, ces systèmes agroforestiers ne peuvent être optimisés qu’à condition de mieux comprendre et de mieux maîtriser les facteurs de leurs productions. L’ouvrage présente un ensemble de connaissances récentes sur les mécanismes biophysiques et socio-économiques qui sous-tendent le fonctionnement et la dynamique des systèmes agroforestiers. Il concerne, d’une part les systèmes agroforestiers à base de cultures pérennes, telles que cacaoyers et caféiers, de régions tropicales humides en Amérique du Sud, en Afrique de l’Est et du Centre, d’autre part les parcs arborés et arbustifs à base de cultures vivrières, principalement de céréales, de la région semi-aride subsaharienne d’Afrique de l’Ouest. Il synthétise les dernières avancées acquises grâce à plusieurs projets associant le Cirad, l’IRD et leurs partenaires du Sud qui ont été conduits entre 2012 et 2016 dans ces régions. L’ensemble de ces projets s’articulent autour des dynamiques des systèmes agroforestiers et des compromis entre les services de production et les autres services socio-écosystémiques que ces systèmes fournissent

Genomic Approaches to Enhance Stress Tolerance for Productivity Improvements in Pearl Millet

Pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.], the sixth most important cereal crop (after rice, wheat, maize, barley, and sorghum), is grown as a grain and stover crop by the small holder farmers in the harshest cropping environments of the arid and semiarid tropical regions of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Millet is grown on ~31 million hectares globally with India in South Asia; Nigeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali in western and central Africa; and Sudan, Uganda, and Tanzania in Eastern Africa as the major producers. Pearl millet provides food and nutritional security to more than 500 million of the world’s poorest and most nutritionally insecure people. Global pearl millet production has increased over the past 15 years, primarily due to availability of improved genetics and adoption of hybrids in India and expanding area under pearl millet production in West Africa. Pearl millet production is challenged by various biotic and abiotic stresses resulting in a significant reduction in yields. The genomics research in pearl millet lagged behind because of multiple reasons in the past. However, in the recent past, several efforts were initiated in genomic research resulting into a generation of large amounts of genomic resources and information including recently published sequence of the reference genome and re-sequencing of almost 1000 lines representing the global diversity. This chapter reviews the advances made in generating the genetic and genomics resources in pearl millet and their interventions in improving the stress tolerance to improve the productivity of this very important climate-smart nutri-cereal

Prévalence globale des pathologies majeures liées à la production laitière bovine en système d'élevage intraurbain à Hamdallaye (Ouagadougou)

Global prevalence of main pathologies related to dairy cattle production in urban flocks of Hamdallaye (Ouagadougou). The aim of this study was to assess prevalence of three main diseases related to dairy production in urban cattle herds: brucellosis, tuberculosis and mastitis. Serum samples collected from 290 bovines have been tested for brucellosis using antigen buffered test. A global prevalence of 13.2 % has been observed, and the females were significantly (p < 0.05) more infected than the males (14.3 % vs 5.6 %). Simple IntraDermoTuberculination (IDT) test with the PPD tuberculin was used on 325 cows. The global prevalence of the infection was 27.7 %, with a very high significant variation (p < 0.001) between 2 years old animals and those over 6 years. From 98 individual milk samples submitted to California Mastitis Test (CMT), mean cellular concentration was 5385. 103 ± 1061.103 TCN/ml. The prevalence of the three studied diseases is important enough to retain the attention of farmers, as well as technical and city authorities. This is particularly the case for tuberculosis and brucellosis which are major zoonosis and which can seriously damage consumer health

Clinical, Paraclinical, and Evolutionary Profiles of Kidney Failure in Gold Miners Hospitalized in a Nephrological Service in a Sub-Saharan African Country

Introduction. The purpose of this preliminary study is to describe the clinical, paraclinical, and evolutionary profiles of gold miner patients with kidney failure hospitalized in the nephrology and haemodialysis service in the Yalgado Ouédraogo University Hospital of Ouagadougou (CHU-YO). Patients and Methods. This was a longitudinal and descriptive study with a retrospective collection of data for the period from February 1, 2013, to March 31, 2018. Included were all gold miner patients who stayed and worked at an artisanal gold mining site for at least three months and who were diagnosed with acute or chronic kidney failure during hospitalization in the nephrology service. We collected sociodemographic, clinical, and paraclinical variables at admission and then three months later. Results. We included 50 patients; all were male and the average age was 29.4 ± 7.7 years. All patients were exposed to mercury and/or cyanide for an average of 4.5 ± 2.8 years. The average consultation/referral time for patients at the CHU-YO was 25.4 ± 14.9 days. The average of creatininemia was 2338.0 ± 791.4 μmol/L. Kidney failure was acute in five cases (10%) and chronic in the remaining 45 cases or 90%. Extrarenal purification was indicated in 43 cases (86%). It was not performed in nine of the 43 cases due to lack of financial resources for patients (six cases) or death prior to the onset of haemodialysis (three cases). Thirty-two of the 50 patients in the study (64% of cases) died. Conclusion. Chronic kidney failure in gold miners appears to be common and late-managed. A prospective study of kidney disease and its causes at gold mining sites and surrounding areas will assess the extent of the problem in the country and better clarify the prevention of these diseases in our country