CONTRIBUTION DE LA MÉDECINE TRADITIONNELLE À BASE DES PLANTES UTÉROTONIQUES À LA SANTÉ DE LA REPRODUCTION EN RDC

CONTEXTE : La Médecine Traditionnelle (MT) recourt notamment aux ressources naturelles disponibles, telles que les plantes, pour contribuer à la santé des populations. La richesse de la végétation représente un atout indéniable pouvant favoriser le développement de l’offre en soins de santé, surtout en milieu tropical. La présente note expose les résultats d’une étude ayant porté sur la contribution de la médecine traditionnelle à base des plantes utérotoniques à la santé de la reproduction dans la ville de Lubumbashi, RDC.MÉTHODES : Nous avons mené une étude ethnobotanique auprès d’un tradipraticien dans la formation sanitaire « Centre de Santé International Uchungu Wa Mwana » (CSIU), au Quartier Zambia, Commune Ruashi, Ville de Lubumbashi. Nous avons ainsi : observé le circuit thérapeutique et l’administration des soins, consulté les fiches et registres des malades, et participé à la récolte, l’identification et l’administration des préparations des plantes médicinales. Une fiche d’observation préalablement pré-testée a permis la collecte des données jusqu’à la saturation des informations recueillies. L’analyse de contenu par thématique a permis de tirer les résultats dont le rapport a été approuvé par le tradipraticien.RÉSULTATS : Le CSIUM organise différents services et reçoit divers cas de souffrance et utilise principalement les plantes Kyuvu, Mulolo, Musankati, Mulembalemba, respectivement pour faciliter l’accouchement, tonifier l’utérus, augmenter les contractions et dilater le col. Les malades apprécient l’efficacité du traitement reçu.CONCLUSION : Les plantes représentent des ressources naturelles contribuant au système des soins, dont l’organisation et la régulation de l’usage sont nécessaires pour le bien-être des populations, notamment en RDC.CONTEXTE : La Médecine Traditionnelle (MT) recourt notamment aux ressources naturelles disponibles, telles que les plantes, pour contribuer à la santé des populations. La richesse de la végétation représente un atout indéniable pouvant favoriser le développement de l’offre en soins de santé, surtout en milieu tropical. La présente note expose les résultats d’une étude ayant porté sur la contribution de la médecine traditionnelle à base des plantes utérotoniques à la santé de la reproduction dans la ville de Lubumbashi, RDC.MÉTHODES : Nous avons mené une étude ethnobotanique auprès d’un tradipraticien dans la formation sanitaire « Centre de Santé International Uchungu Wa Mwana » (CSIU), au Quartier Zambia, Commune Ruashi, Ville de Lubumbashi. Nous avons ainsi : observé le circuit thérapeutique et l’administration des soins, consulté les fiches et registres des malades, et participé à la récolte, l’identification et l’administration des préparations des plantes médicinales. Une fiche d’observation préalablement pré-testée a permis la collecte des données jusqu’à la saturation des informations recueillies. L’analyse de contenu par thématique a permis de tirer les résultats dont le rapport a été approuvé par le tradipraticien.RÉSULTATS : Le CSIUM organise différents services et reçoit divers cas de souffrance et utilise principalement les plantes Kyuvu, Mulolo, Musankati, Mulembalemba, respectivement pour faciliter l’accouchement, tonifier l’utérus, augmenter les contractions et dilater le col. Les malades apprécient l’efficacité du traitement reçu.CONCLUSION : Les plantes représentent des ressources naturelles contribuant au système des soins, dont l’organisation et la régulation de l’usage sont nécessaires pour le bien-être des populations, notamment en RDC

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

Extent and ecological consequences of hunting in Central African rainforests in the twenty-first century

Humans have hunted wildlife in Central Africa for millennia. Today, however, many species are being rapidly extirpated and sanctuaries for wildlife are dwindling. Almost all Central Africa's forests are now accessible to hunters. Drastic declines of large mammals have been caused in the past 20 years by the commercial trade formeat or ivory. We review a growing body of empirical data which shows that trophic webs are significantly disrupted in the region, with knock-on effects for other ecological functions, including seed dispersal and forest regeneration. Plausible scenarios for land-use change indicate that increasing extraction pressure on Central African forests is likely to usher in new worker populations and to intensify the hunting impacts and trophic cascade disruption already in progress, unless serious efforts aremade for hunting regulation. The profound ecological changes initiated by hunting will not mitigate and may even exacerbate the predicted effects of climate change for the region. We hypothesize that, in the near future, the trophic changes brought about by hunting will have a larger and more rapid impact on Central African rainforest structure and function than the direct impacts of climate change on the vegetation. Immediate hunting regulation is vital for the survival of the Central African rainforest ecosystem

Economic commodity or environmental crisis? An interdisciplinary approach to analysing the bushmeat trade in central and west Africa

Bushmeat is a large but largely invisible contributor to the economies of west and central African countries. Yet the trade is currently unsustainable. Hunting is reducing wildlife populations, driving more vulnerable species to local and regional extinction, and threatening biodiversity. This paper uses a commodity chain approach to explore the bushmeat trade and to demonstrate why an interdisciplinary approach is required if the trade is to be sustainable in the future

Guns, germs, and trees determine density and distribution of gorillas and chimpanzees in Western Equatorial Africa

We present a range-wide assessment of sympatric western lowland gorillas Gorilla gorilla gorilla and central chimpanzees Pan troglodytes troglodytes using the largest survey data set ever assembled for these taxa: 59 sites in five countries surveyed between 2003 and 2013, totaling 61,000 person-days of fieldwork. We used spatial modeling to investigate major drivers of great ape distribution and population trends. We predicted density across each taxon’s geographic range, allowing us to estimate overall abundance: 361,900 gorillas and 128,700 chimpanzees in Western Equatorial Africa—substantially higher than previous estimates. These two subspecies represent close to 99% of all gorillas and one-third of all chimpanzees. Annual population decline of gorillas was estimated at 2.7%, maintaining them as Critically Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red List. We quantified the threats to each taxon, of which the three greatest were poaching, disease, and habitat degradation. Gorillas and chimpanzees are found at higher densities where forest is intact, wildlife laws are enforced, human influence is low, and disease impacts have been low. Strategic use of the results of these analyses could conserve the majority of gorillas and chimpanzees. With around 80% of both subspecies occurring outside protected areas, their conservation requires reinforcement of anti-poaching efforts both inside and outside protected areas (particularly where habitat quality is high and human impact is low), diligent disease control measures (including training, advocacy, and research into Ebola virus disease), and the preservation of high-quality habitat through integrated land-use planning and implementation of best practices by the extractive and agricultural industries. We quantify the impacts of poaching, Ebola, and habitat degradation on western lowland gorillas and central chimpanzees. We quantify the impacts of poaching, Ebola, and habitat degradation on western lowland gorillas and central chimpanzees