Dog Ecology and Management in Niger State, Nigeria: A Basic Tool for Rabies Control

Aims: To examine the dog ecology and management as it relates to the control of rabies in Niger State, Nigeria. Study Design: Questionnaire based survey. Place and Duration of Study: Structured questionnaires on dog ecology and management were administered in Niger State of Nigeria between January and March 2012. Methodology: Structured questionnaires on dog ecology and management comprising of 4 sections, were administered to 300 adult participants between the ages of 18-70 years using systematic randomization; 237 questionnaires were returned. Descriptive statistics using the SAS statistical package were employed to analyze the data. Results: Results indicated that there was a population ratio of 1:5.4 dogs to humans and 1:1.9 female to male dog ratio with an estimated 732,476 dog population in Niger State. Most of the dogs (58.6%) in the state were kept for security reasons and that majority of the dogs strayed at night (52.4%) and evenings (23.8%) into homes across the state. About 52% of dogs were not confined and responsibility for dogs in terms of welfare, mostly (61.5%) lied on everybody in the family and 61% of dogs were fed on family left overs. About 30.4% of dogs were never vaccinated and 31% of the respondents (or their family members) have been inflicted with a dog bite, but only 28.1% of cases received post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). For those humans that were bitten, about 13.8% resulted in death. Conclusion: Due to free roaming and irregular vaccination of dogs in the state; there is bound to be increased dog bite cases/rabies spread. This study concludes that dogs were not catered for as expected in the state and that employment of dog ecological studies before any rabies control programmes, will explore necessary data for planning the programme in Niger State of Nigeria. Improvement and employment of dog ecological studies across states for rabies control programmes in Nigeria and W/Africa is hereby recommended

Studies on the development of cerebellum of one-humped camel (Camelus dromedarius)

A histomorphological study of the development of foetal cerebellum was conducted. It was observed that at first trimester there were fewer fissures in the folia which progressively increased towards the third trimester. It was also observed that the histology of cerebellum of camel foetus at first trimester showed clear distinct external granular layer which was thin densely parked with cells which progressively decrease in thickness and amount of cells towards the third trimester. The next layer which was the molecular layer with less cell (stellate and basket) compared to the external germinal layer increased in volume with increased age. The molecular layer was followed by a densely cell (Golgi and granule) packed internal granular layer which progressively increased from first trimester to the third trimester. Purkinje cells which were in-between molecular and internal granular layer were not seen in the first trimester but were gradually becoming more visible in the subsequent trimesters. The development of the cerebellum in this study is similar to what was observed in most of the animal species