Maradi red goat sexual cycle: descriptive and progesteronomic study

In order to establish the cyclicity characteristics of the Maradi red goat for the selection program, two experimental protocols were implemented separately at the Faculty of Agronomy of the University of Niamey (Niger). The first included 8 multiparous females and aimed to characterize the plasma progesterone concentration during the sexual cycle. The second including 31 females (multiparous and young) focused on analyzing manifestation of sexual activity and determining averages durations of estrus and sexual cycle. Bloodsamplings and heat controls were conducted. It appeared that young female puberty occurs at 46 to 56% of adult goat weight and the onset and end of heats are widely detected in the morning (65%). Throughout the year, sexual activity is lower in dry and hot season and higher in rainy and dry and cold season. The averages lengths of estrus and sexual cycle are 43.27±26.54 hours and 23.16±16.68 days. These parameters vary, (p = 5%) between type of females for the length of sexual cycle with a high proportion of abnormal cycles (31.61% short and 28.57% long). progesterone profiles showed the same trend. Concentration is lower at estrus period (0.29±0.12 ng/ml), it rises from the 4th day to reach a peak of 6±1.6 ng/ml between the 13th and 16th day of the cycle. Keywords: Durations, Cycle, Estrus, Progesterone, Evolution, Maradi Red goat

Tillaberi Slaughterhouse Discharges And Their Impact On The Niger River: A Physicochemical And Microbiological Analysis

The main objective of this work was to study the solid and liquid waste discharges of the slaughterhouse of the city of Tillabéri, and their impacts on the Niger River. To do so, the identification and quantification of the solid waste of the slaughterhouse were carried out in the first step, then the physical, chemical, and microbiological characterization of the liquid discharges of the slaughterhouse and of the river water in the second step. The results obtained showed that the slaughterhouse in the urban commune of Tillabéri produced an average of 156.1 ± 41.1 kg of solid waste per day, divided into four groups: 133 kg of stercoral, 19.7 kg of seized organs, 1.9 kg of plastic and 1.4 kg of skin pieces. The average values obtained after physic-chemical and microbiological characterization of the liquid waste are as follows pH (7.08 ± 0.15), Temperature (28.6 ± 0.49), Electrical conductivity (985 ±184.1 µS/cm), COD (12860 ± 3831.8mg/l), BOD (5338 ± 1572.05mg/l), Suspended Solid (835 ± 258.7mg/l) Cl- (81.5 ± 1.3 mg/l), NO3- (0.66 ± 0.97mg/l). The BOD5/COD ratio is about 0.41. After microbiological characterization of these liquid discharges, (3.1.104 cfu) of E. coli, (3.104 cfu) of fecal coliforms, and (6.1.108 cfu) of total coliforms were found. The physicochemical and microbiological characterization of the river water showed that most of the physicochemical parameters comply with the WHO limits, except for BOD5 and COD, which have fairly high average values of (62.5 ± 47.06mg/l) and (200 ± 110.1mg/l) respectively. The E. coli found are of the order of 5.6.104 cfu, however, there are no fecal coliforms in these waters. All these values indicate that the river water is polluted. This pollution would come from the discharges of the slaughterhouse

Cholécystectomies Laparoscopiques Pour Cholécystite Aigue Lithiasique Versus Lithiase Vésiculaire Symptomatique

Introduction: The aim of this work was to highlight the therapeutic and prognostic difficulties between a laparoscopic cholecystectomy for acute gallstone cholecystitis (CAL) and uncomplicated symptomatic vesicular lithiasis (LVS) as well as the reasons for conversion to laparotomy. Patients and Methods: This was a prospective comparative and analytic study over 18 months. Patients admitted and operated for CAL or LVS in the A Surgery Department of the National Hospital of Niamey (HNN) were included. Results: The study involved 61 patients divided into two groups. Group 1 (30 patients) corresponding to patients operated for CAL, group 2 (31 patients) corresponding to patients operated for LVS. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy accounted for 61% of all cholecystectomies performed and 1.45% of surgical activity during the same period. The average age in group 1 was 43.7 years with extremes of 14 and 61 years. In group 2, the average age was 38.9 years with extremes ranging from 12 to 55 years. Women were predominantly represented with 63.3% and 96.7% respectively for groups 1 and 2. Patients were overweight in 9 cases for group 1 (30% of cases) and 12 cases in group 2 (38%), 7% of cases). Hepatic colic was the main sign of appeal in all patients in both groups. In group 1; 26 out of 30 cases or 86.7% of cases had leukocytosis, whereas in group 2, leukocytosis was normal in 30 cases, ie 96.8% of cases. Accessibility of the vesicle was difficult in 73.3% of cases in group 1 against 22.6% of cases in group 2. The vesicle was distended and necrotic in groups 1 in 76.7% and 10 respectively. % of cases. On the other hand, in 25.8% of cases, the vesicle was distended and without any necrosis in group 2. The rate of conversion to laparotomy was 6.55% (4 cases) and exclusively concerned group 1. Operative follow-up immediate outcomes were simple in 98.34% of cases. The complications involved 2 patients in group 1 (1.66% of the total), including parietal suppuration and biliary leakage. Mean operative time was 68.7 min in group 1 versus 41.6 min in group 2. Mean duration of hospitalization was 4.3 days with extremes between 2 and 10 days in group 1 versus1,7 days with extremes ranging from 1 to 7 days in group 2. Mortality was zero. Conclusion: In recent years, laparoscopic surgery has made remarkable progress in Niger. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy seems to be more difficult to perform with significant morbidity in the case of CAL than LVS. The risk of per and postoperative complications can be estimated from the clinical data (acute cholecystitis or symptomatic vesicular lithiasis) and the surgeon's experience. In a cholecystectomy that lasts more than 2 hours, the cumulative risk of complications is highe

Prise En Charge Des Anévrismes Artériels Dans Un Centre Africain Non Spécialisée

Introduction: Arterial aneurysms affect 7 to 8% of people over 65 in the West and are the 2nd leading cause of death in these countries. In Africa this frequency is poorly evaluated. The objective of this work is to report the management of arterial aneurysms at the National Hospital of Niamey (HNN). Patients and methods: This was a retrospective, descriptive study over a period of eight (8) years from January 2009 to December 2016, performed in the surgical departments of the National Hospital of Niamey. Included in the study were patients of both sexes, hospitalized and / or operated for arterial aneurysm. Not included were patients treated for arterial aneurysm with incomplete records or those concerning the neurosurgical sphere. Results: During the study period, 17,748 patients were hospitalized in the general surgery departments, including 16 patients for arterial aneurysm, or 0.09% of surgical pathologies. There were 13 men (81.25%) and 3 women (18.75%), or a sex ratio of 4.33. The average age was 55.75 years with extremes ranging from 25 years old to 90 years old. The circumstances of discovery of the aneurysms were swelling of the antero-internal aspect of the thigh in 7 cases (43.75%), abdominal mass 6 cases (37.50%), then 2 cases (12.50%) of chest pain and incidental discovery in 1cas (6.25%). The most common risk factor was high blood pressure with 43.75% (7 cases). The aneurysm sat on the femoral artery in 43.75% (n = 7), of which 6 on the deep femoral and 1 on the superficial femoral, on the infrarenal aorta in 31.25% (n = 5), on thoracic aorta 12.50% (n = 2), on the iliac artery 12.50% (n = 2). For the diagnosis the angioscanner is realized in all the patients and in addition Doppler ultrasound in 43, 75% of cases. Twelve (12) patients benefited from curative surgical intervention by prosthetic graft by PTFE in 58.33% of cases and by Dacron in 41.66%. The average stay was 29.75 days and the immediate operative followup was complicated by thrombosis in 12.5% and parietal suppurations in 6.25%. We recorded two (2) deaths, ie 12.5% among non-operated patients. Conclusion: Arterial aneurysms are rare diseases at the HNN. Conventional surgery is the treatment performed in our patients. The postoperative course was simple in most cases

Pilot feasibility study of an emergency paediatric kit for intra-rectal quinine administration used by the personnel of community-based health care units in Senegal

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Quinine injection is the reference treatment for malaria when oral administration is impossible. Quinine can also be administered by the intra-rectal route and, over the last ten years, a series of studies have been conducted in children to determine the ideal dose and dilution in the African situation. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the feasibility and usefulness of a kit for an immediate administration of quinine alkaloids (Quinimax^®) by community health workers, prior to transfer of the child to a more sophisticated health care establishment.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A prospective, open, descriptive community intervention study conducted in northern Senegal at six village Health Units in children fewer than ten years of age with non-per-os malaria. Controls were given the routine care prior to transfer to a Health Center, and cases were in addition administered Quinimax^®(20 mg/ml) via the intra-rectal route before transfer. Patients were followed through complete cure and parasitological tests were carried out on Days 0, 3 and 7.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>134 patients (79 cases/55 controls) were recruited between November 2003 and May 2004 or October and November 2004. The two groups were comparable at inclusion. In the case group, oral drugs could be administered after a mean of <it>16.8 hours </it>versus <it>33.6 hours </it>in the control group. Time-to cure was shorter in cases than in controls. Complete parasite clearance was obtained in all patients by Day 7. The kit was well accepted by all concerned and more than 80% of community health workers judged the kit easy to use.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The emergency paediatric kit is a useful tool in the management of malaria in children who cannot be treated orally. It is feasible and easy to use for health workers in community-based Health Units where, according to the WHO, nearly 80% of malarial morbidity and mortality occurs.</p

Whom and Where Are We Not Vaccinating? Coverage after the Introduction of a New Conjugate Vaccine against Group A Meningococcus in Niger in 2010

MenAfriVac is a new conjugate vaccine against Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A developed for the African “meningitis belt”. In Niger, the first two phases of the MenAfriVac introduction campaign were conducted targeting 3,135,942 individuals aged 1 to 29 years in the regions of Tillabéri, Niamey, and Dosso, in September and December 2010. We evaluated the campaign and determined which sub-populations or areas had low levels of vaccination coverage in the regions of Tillabéri and Niamey. After Phase I, conducted in the Filingué district, we estimated coverage using a 30×15 cluster-sampling survey and nested lot quality assurance (LQA) analysis in the clustered samples to identify which subpopulations (defined by age 1–14/15–29 and sex) had unacceptable vaccination coverage (<70%). After Phase II, we used Clustered Lot Quality Assurance Sampling (CLQAS) to assess if any of eight districts in Niamey and Tillabéri had unacceptable vaccination coverage (<75%) and estimated overall coverage. Estimated vaccination coverage was 77.4% (95%CI: 84.6–70.2) as documented by vaccination cards and 85.5% (95% CI: 79.7–91.2) considering verbal history of vaccination for Phase I; 81.5% (95%CI: 86.1–77.0) by card and 93.4% (95% CI: 91.0–95.9) by verbal history for Phase II. Based on vaccination cards, in Filingué, we identified both the male and female adult (age 15–29) subpopulations as not reaching 70% coverage; and we identified three (one in Tillabéri and two in Niamey) out of eight districts as not reaching 75% coverage confirmed by card. Combined use of LQA and cluster sampling was useful to estimate vaccination coverage and to identify pockets with unacceptable levels of coverage (adult population and three districts). Although overall vaccination coverage was satisfactory, we recommend continuing vaccination in the areas or sub-populations with low coverage and reinforcing the social mobilization of the adult population

A Theoretical Analysis of the Geography of Schistosomiasis in Burkina Faso Highlights the Roles of Human Mobility and Water Resources Development in Disease Transmission

We study the geography of schistosomiasis across Burkina Faso by means of a spatially explicit model of water-based disease dynamics. The model quantitatively addresses the geographic stratification of disease burden in a novel framework by explicitly accounting for drivers and controls of the disease, including spatial information on the distributions of population and infrastructure, jointly with a general description of human mobility and climatic/ecological drivers. Spatial patterns of disease are analysed by the extraction and the mapping of suitable eigenvectors of the Jacobian matrix subsuming the stability of the disease-free equilibrium. The relevance of the work lies in the novel mapping of disease burden, a byproduct of the parametrization induced by regional upscaling, by model-guided field validations and in the predictive scenarios allowed by exploiting the range of possible parameters and processes. Human mobility is found to be a primary control at regional scales both for pathogen invasion success and the overall distribution of disease burden. The effects of water resources development highlighted by systematic reviews are accounted for by the average distances of human settlements from water bodies that are habitats for the parasite's intermediate host. Our results confirm the empirical findings about the role of water resources development on disease spread into regions previously nearly disease-free also by inspection of empirical prevalence patterns. We conclude that while the model still needs refinements based on field and epidemiological evidence, the proposed framework provides a powerful tool for large-scale public health planning and schistosomiasis management

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