Airborne microflora in an hospital environment of University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Benin City, Nigeria

A study was undertaken to determine typical concentrations of airborne bacteria and fungi (microflora) in Teaching Hospital environment in Benin City in the tropical rainforest environment of Nigeria. Aerial sampling wasconducted at various hospital wards each day. The air samples were collected thrice daily, that is, in the morning, between 8am and 10am, in the afternoon, between 12noon and 2pm and in the evening between 4pm and 6pm. Concentrations of airborne microflora exceeded available local guidelines for indoor quality in the accident and emergency ward, female ward, male ward, pediatric ward and the maternity ward, but not in the restricted wards like the theatre, intensive care unit and bacteriological laboratory. Results showed that the occupant density was the keyfactor influencing the levels of airborne microflora, while humidity was also observed as a factor, depending on the particular location with the hospital. The concentration of airborne bacteria and fungi in the nine different hospital units varied from wards to wards. The bacterial population ranges from 3.0cf/m3 to 76.0cf/m3, with the highest bacterial population recorded in the accident and emergency ward. The fungal population ranges from 6.0cf/m3 to 44.7cf/m3, while the highest fungal population was recorded in the accident and emergency ward. The microflora characterized and identified, were representative ofthe normal microflora of the human body (skin, gastrointestinal tracts, respiratory tract) and the opportunistic pathogens. The microbial isolates included six bacterial genera, among which are, Staphylococcus aureus,Staphylococcus epidermis, Escherichia coli, Bacillus sp. and Proteus mirabilis, the fugal isolates included, Aspergillus sp, Penicillium sp., Mucor sp., Candida sp and Verticillium sp. The variations in hospital units in concentrations of total airborne microorganisms (bacteria and fungi) in the air of hospital environments were statistically significant (p<0.001).The concentrations of airborne microflora recorded in the hospital environment, specifically in the accident and emergency ward was significantly different from other wards (p<0.001), with the mean value of 40.0 and 72.2 for fungal and bacterial population respectively

Peste des Petits Ruminants

Heartwater (or cowdriosis) is a tick-borne disease caused by Ehrlichia ruminantium, an obligatory intracellular bacterium of the order Rickettsiales, transmitted by several ticks of the genus Amblyomma. The organism is genetically highly variable which prevented until now the development of efficient vaccines. The disease is enzootic in sub-Sahelian Africa and in some Caribbean islands. It affects domestic and wild ruminants, the susceptibility to cowdriosis varying greatly between breeds and species: African wildlife shows mainly asymptomatic infections; local cattle breeds are generally protected due to enzootic stability; and introduced cattle breeds and small ruminants, even in enzootic regions, are usually susceptible to heartwater and can suffer high mortality rates. Cowdriosis is characterized by a sudden and acute fever followed by nervous, respiratory, and gastrointestinal symptoms and by hydrothorax and hydropericardium during postmortem examination. In West Africa, the only vector is Amblyomma variegatum, present in areas where pluviometry is higher than 500 mm. Therefore, animals of a high proportion of the Sahelian region are usually not infested by the tick and not infected by the bacterium. They are thus susceptible when introduced in southern parts of the Sahel or in the subhumid neighboring areas of the West African countries, for example during transhumance. Tetracyclines are effective drugs to treat heartwater when administered before occurrence of the nervous symptoms. Various vaccines have been tested, and are still developed, but, up to now, none of them showed enough effectiveness against all the field strains of E. ruminantium to allow its marketing. Prevention is therefore mainly achieved by drastic vector control or, on the contrary, acquisition of enzootic stability following tick infestation combined with tetracycline treatment as soon as hyperthermia occurs