Economic loss from liver condemnation due to Fasciolosis in slaughtered ruminants in Maiduguri abattoir, Borno State, Nigeria

Objective: The study was conducted to evaluate economic loss from liver condemnation due to Fasciolosis in slaughtered ruminants in Maiduguri abattoir, Borno State, Nigeria. Materials and methods: Three hundred (300) livers each of cattle, sheep and goats slaughtered were randomly selected and examined for the presence of Fasciola flukes. The infected livers were weighed and economic value in Nigerian Naira (₦) and US Dollar (US) were assessed. Results: An overall economic loss of ₦602,400.00 (1,882.50 US) per annum was incurred during the period under study from a total of 753 kg of liver condemned. Total of 428 kg and 325 kg of liver were condemned during dry and rainy seasons respectively, resulting in higher economic loss of (₦342,400.00; 1,070 US) in dry season and (₦260,000.00; 812.50 US) during rainy season. More liver were condemned in the adult cattle (372 kg) than in adult sheep (117 kg) and goats (108 kg) during the period of this study. Conclusion: Ruminant fasciolosis is endemic in Maiduguri, and high economic loss for the farmers and butchers are reported in this study. Strengthening and developing better control methods of fasciolosis in ruminants in Borno State is suggested. [J Adv Vet Anim Res 2017; 4(1.000): 65-70

Comparative Analysis of Metagenomic (Amplicon and Shotgun) DNA Sequencing to Characterize Microbial Communities in Household On-Site Wastewater Treatment Systems

The performance of on-site wastewater treatment systems (OWTSs) can be improved by altering digester design and by manipulating environmental variables that affect microbial community composition. Community composition can potentially be assessed using high-throughput DNA sequencing, but the two most common methods of community DNA sequencing (16S and shotgun sequencing) generally yield different taxonomic identification profiles and can perform differently according to the sampled environment. To evaluate the use of these two approaches in monitoring OWTS operation, we conducted a comparative parallel analysis using both 16S rDNA and shotgun sequencing in a controlled field study. Results indicate that when examining microorganisms above 0.1% relative abundance, 16S and shotgun sequencing produced similar results in terms of individual sample species richness and between-sample community similarity. However, shotgun sequencing provided comparatively higher taxonomic richness for the bacterial communities with lower abundance in the OWTSs. In addition, 16S sequencing resolved only 48 out of 188 bacterial communities identified by shotgun sequencing (using a 0.1% abundance cutoff). Three key bacterial genera (Desulfomicrobium, Simplicispira, and Phenylobacterium) in anaerobic digestion processes were differentially abundant for both sequencing methods. These data indicate that both sequencing methods provide similar overall profiles for bacterial communities in anaerobic digestor systems. However, shotgun sequencing provides significantly (p-value < 0.01) higher taxonomic richness overall. Thus, shotgun sequencing provides a more robust taxonomic and functional profile that can be used for the optimization of anaerobic digestor systems

Comparative Metagenomics of Anaerobic Digester Communities Reveals Sulfidogenic and Methanogenic Microbial Subgroups in Conventional and Plug Flow Residential Septic Tank Systems

On-site wastewater treatment systems (OWTS) are primarily monitored using physiochemical factors, including chemical oxygen demand (COD) and residual total suspended solids (TSS), which are indirect measures of the microbial action during the anaerobic digestion process. Changes in anaerobic digester microbial communities can alter the digester performance, but this information cannot be directly obtained from traditional physicochemical indicators. The potential of metagenomic DNA sequencing as a tool for taxonomic and functional profiling of microbial communities was examined in both common conventional and plug flow-type anaerobic digesters (single-pass and recirculating). Compared to conventional digesters, plug flow-type digesters had higher relative levels of sulfate-reducing bacteria (Desulfovibrio spp.) and hydrogenotrophic methanogens (Methanospirillum spp.). In contrast, recirculating anaerobic digesters were enriched with denitrifier bacteria and hydrogenotrophic methanogens, and both were significantly correlated with physicochemical factors such as COD and TSS. Stratification of microbial communities was observed along the digester treatment process according to hydrolytic, acidogenic, acetogenic, and methanogenic subgroups. These results indicate that the high-throughput DNA sequencing may be useful as a monitoring tool to characterize the changes in bacterial communities and the functional profile due to differences in digester design in on-site systems