Sheep and goat production in the north west province of Cameroon with special reference to parasitic gastroenteritis

A research project was carried out between October 1983 and June 1987 partly in Scotland and partly in Cameroon covering three main areas: a survey on small ruminant production and epidemiological and experimental studies on parasitic gastroenteritis in these animals.The survey on traditional management of sheep and goats was conducted in North West Province of Cameroon using a questionnaire. The main objectives were to assess the productivity, to identify production constraints and to propose possible solutions. Sixty-five farmers in Mezam division and 50 in Momo division were interviewed. The results showed that 92% of the farmers rear goats as against only 21% who rear sheep. A traditional belief by which sheep keeping adversely affects a woman's fertility is perhaps the greatest constraint on sheep production. Flock sizes are small, typically 6-7 animals in single species flocks and up to 12 animals in mixed flocks. Females make up 88% and 84% of sheep and goat flocks respectively with 62% and 58% of the total sheep and goat flocks being breeding females over 12 months of age.Six management systems were identified. Those involving tethering during the cropping season and either tethering or semi-extensive grazing in the non-cropping season are most widely practised. The most common housing system is an enclosed shed with walls of sticks, tree fern or bamboo. Floors of planks laid on the earth or slightly raised are used by about 48% of the farmers while only 22% construct raised slatted floors.Intentional feed supplementation is rare but salt is given by most farmers on a more or less regular basis. Watering was not considered essential by about 4% of the farmers.Breeding is generally uncontrolled and progeny of the most active breeding ram/buck is often the main source of ram/buck replacement; therefore inbreeding is common.Offtake rates were 20% and 24% in sheep and goats with flock mean percentages of 26% and 23% respectively. The highest offtake rates were recorded under tethering/semi-extensive (35%, and 28% for sheep and goats respectively) and extensive/extensive (48% for sheep).Mortality rates were not significantly different in either young animals (17% and l4% in lambs and kids respectively) or adults (17% and 11% in adult sheep and goats respectively). There was some suggestion of higher mortality rates under semi-intensive/semi-intensive and semi-intensive/semi-extensive management systems. Tick infestation and diarrhoea were considered to be among the major causes of death. Five disease problems of small ruminants were identified on the basis of the signs reported by the farmers: intestinal parasitism especially helminthiasis, tick infestation and the viral diseases associated with it, pneumonia, peste des petits ruminants and Oestrus ovis infestation. Traditional medicine for treatment of sick animals is practised on a very small scale with very limited success.sed on a very small scale with very limited success. A survey on haemoglobin types was carried out on sheep and goats collected from the North West Province and Northern Cameroon as background studies to the experimental work on haemonchosis. Three adult haemoglobin variants (HbA, HbB and HbC) were identified. Haemoglobin types A and B occurred in sheep and haemoglobin types B and C in goats. The gene frequencies of the A and B alleles were 0.08 and 1.00 in Grassland Dwarf sheep and 0.06 and 1.00 in Fulani Bornu sheep. In the goats the gene frequencies of the B and C alleles were 1.00 and 0.15 in Grassland Dwarf goats and 1.00 and 0.38 in Red Sokoto goats. Abnormal production of a haemoglobin with similar electrophoretic mobility to Hb type C was observed in both species under haematological stress. The intense selection of the B gene in the sheep and goat population is of potential interest.The epidemiological studies were intended both to examine the factors which predispose sheep and goats to helminth infections and their effects on production, and to evaluate the efficiency of various control measures intended to increase production. The regime of monthly deworming with fenbendazole currently practised at the research station was used as the control for the first year's epidemiological study designed to investigate the effect of reducing the frequency of such treatment on the survival and productivity of small ruminants. Three management systems were compared: the control regime, a regime involving five strategic treatments and traditional village management with no anthelmintic. The performance of the animals was monitored for one year. At Mankon the goats gained less weight than the sheep. On the contrary the traditionally managed goats both survived better and gained more weight than traditionally managed sheepThe strongyle faecal egg counts from both sheep and goats fell at the start of the dry season and remained low until April regardless of the system of management or the frequency of anthelmintic treatment. Pasture larval counts and infection levels in tracer animals were low during this period. During the rainy season faecal egg counts were consistently lower in sheep at Mankon than in goats while in the village animals the reverse was the case. In the animals at Mankon, egg counts made 15 days after treatment were similar to the pretreatment counts. The possibility of benzimidazole resistance by the trichostrongyles in the animals at Mankon was suspected and confirmed by conducting egg counts one week after treatment and by an in vitro anthelmintic sensitivity test in which it was shown that strongyle eggs from the animals at Mankon consistently developed in higher concentrations of tiabendazole than eggs obtained from the village animals.Pasture larval counts were high during the rainy season producing two waves of larval contamination on the pastures, one in mid-June and the other towards the end of the rains in November. The period of maximum infection in tracer animals followed the June peak of pasture contamination. High mortality in traditionally managed sheep in July, August and September also coincided with periods of heavy larval challenge. Haemonchus contortus, Trichostrongy/us axei, Trichostrongy/us coiubriformis and, to a lesser extent, Moniezia expansa were prevalent throughout the year but with larger numbers present during the rainy season. Oesophagostomum columbianum and Bunostomum trigonocephaium were prevalent mainly during the rainy season, heavy burdens in the animals dying during the dry season apparently having been acquired in the late rainsThe primary haematological parameters (PCV, Hb concentration and RBC counts) in the animals at Mankon tended to be low during the dry season but increased at the onset of the rains and changed very little thereafter. However, in the traditionally managed sheep, the values of these parameters tended to decline overall. In general the haematological values were somewhat lower in the animals on the reduced regime than in those on the standard regime, and in the traditionally managed sheep and goats than in those at the research station.In the animals at Mankon, the serum total protein and albumin concentrations were low during the dry season. In sheep the total protein increased significantly at the beginning of the rains while the albumin changed very little throughout the year. In goats the albumin concentration showed a more or less steady fall throughout the study. In all animals the globulin values were generally elevated during the rainy season. Serum pepsinogen levels were low during the dry season but increased during the rainy season. In the traditionally managed animals the serum biochemistry did not change significantly throughout the study.The second year of the epidemiological study examined the possibility of further reducing the frequency of anthelmintic treatment when an effective anthelmintic is used. The experimental groups received either four or two strategically timed anthelmintic doses, the traditionally managed group included an on-station simulation study and a group of sheep and goats were kept together on mixed grazing.In this year the survival rate was significantly higher in sheep than in goats under all management systems except in those on traditional management.The faecal egg count patterns in all the groups during the dry season were similar to the previous year. Following anthelmintic treatment in the 4-dose group with levamisole in early March, the faecal egg counts were initially reduced to zero in both sheep and goats. Under both the 4-dose and 2-dose regimes treatment with levamisole maintained egg counts in all animals at less than 200 epg throughout the rainy season. Nevertheless the goats at Mankon still carried slightly higher egg counts than sheep. Traditionally managed animals again showed higher egg counts in sheep than in goats.Although the peak periods of pasture larval contamination were modified by the anthelmintic treatments, the overall pattern of seasonal availability of trichostrongyles remained unchanged.Sheep maintained higher PCV values than goats throughout the year. There was a similarity in the serum protein patterns in all groups in both hosts with a tendency for the albumin levels to remain fairly constant and for the globulin levels - and hence the total protein - to fall or remain static during the dry season and then to rise during the rainy season. No consistent differences were found between age or treatment groups but some of the changes with time were significant.The albumin values determined by the bromocresol green method were consistently and significantly lower in goats and higher in sheep than those determined by electrophoresis.The experimental studies largely reflected and amplified the epidemiological findings. The development of the parasite and its relationship to haematologicai, biochemical and pathological changes were studied in lambs and kids after a single infection of 10,000 L3 of Haemonchus contortus In Scotland using a local sheep-adapted strain (ES) and European lambs and kids, the PCV and Hb concentration in the lambs declined rapidly from day 10 after infection whereas in kids this was less marked and there was an initial rise in these values during the first three days following infection. Localized areas of mucosal hypertrophy were visible on the abomasal surface by day 4 and a coagulum covered the fundic abomasal surface on day 8 in both lambs and kids and on day 14 in the kids only. There was a steady reduction in the number of worms recovered with age of the infection, more dramatic in kids than in lambs. The infections were accompanied by mucosal hypertrophy and infiltration of lymphoid-type cells, plasma cells and eosinophils. Desquamation of the mucosal epithelium was visible from day 8.The single infection studies at Mankon compared the response of indigenous lambs and kids to infection with three strains of Haemonchus contortus, two derived from local goats (LG) and sheep (LS) respectively and one ES strain. The primary haematologicai parameters were more severely lowered in kids than in lambs for at least 12 days after infection. The depression was more severe in animals infected with the LS strain than in those infected with the LG or ES strains. The changes in serum protein biochemistry were less marked but with an overall tendency for the total protein and albumin to fall after day 12 in animals infected with the LG and LS strains. Female worms in both hosts were clearly larger than the male worms from day 8 and the worms from the lambs were clearly much bigger than those from the kids from day 11. Sexual maturation was reached earlier in the worms from the lambs than in those from the kids. The pathological changes were similar to those seen in the infections in Scotland. However, the coagulum was observed in kids infected with the LG and LS strains killed on days 8, 11 and 14 whereas in lambs it was observed only in those killed on day 11. No signs of gastric haemorrhage were observed in any of the indigenous animals infected with the ES strain. Overall the severity of the parasitic effects was greater in kids than in lambs and in animals infected with the two local strains than in those infected with the ES strain.The epidemiological pattern observed in temperate countries at the end of the winter was simulated by an escalating infection study. European lambs and kids were infected with increasing doses of H. contortus (ES strain) twice weekly for five weeks. Results showed depressed liveweights in lambs from six weeks onwards. Anaemia developed in the course of the infection, being more severe in the lambs than in the kids. Serum total protein and albumin dropped significantly in the lambs while the changes in kids were not significant. Serum pepsinogen concentration rose during the infections, the rise being more consistent in the kids. Lambs had significantly more worms, a shorter prepatent period and higher faecal egg counts than kids.The daily infection of indigenous lambs and kids in Cameroon with small doses of the two local strains of Haemonchus contortus was intended to simulate a field situation in which animals are grazing continuously on lightly contaminated pastures. The results showed that there was considerable reduction in liveweight of the kids compared to the controls whereas the growth of the lambs was not affected. Most of the higher faecal egg counts in kids were in animals infected with the LG strain whereas in lambs it was the LS strain that gave rise to the highest counts. However, throughout the 20 weeks of the study most animals had less than 500 epg in their 29 faeces. Necropsy worm counts revealed that kids carried higher burdens of the LG strain and lower burdens of the LS strain than lambs, but the counts in all cases were generally less than 600 per animal. There was a prolonged depression of the primary haematological values in kids infected with both strains of H. contortus whereas these values in lambs fluctuated within the pre-infection range. Serum protein biochemistry did not change significantly while serum pepsinogen levels increased in the course of the infection.It was concluded that a management regime utilizing three strategic anthelmintic treatments under set-stocking conditions is indicated for controlling parasitic gastroenteritis in sheep and goats kept on the research station in the North West Provice of Cameroon. In the villages treatment, especially of sheep, during the rains may be beneficial and cost-effective

A cross-sectional survey on the prevalence of anaemia and malnutrition in primary school children in the Tiko Health District, Cameroon

Introduction: anaemia and malnutrition are common health problems in developing countries with children being the most vulnerable. They have negative impacts on human performance, growth and development, in children, both as cause and consequences of disease. Although annual mass deworming and nutrition supplement strategies have been implemented in the Tiko Health District (THD), no study has been carried out to determine the prevalence of anaemia and malnutrition. The aim of this study was therefore designed to determine the prevalence of anaemia and malnutrition among primary school children aged 5-15 years in the Tiko Health District. Methods: a cross-sectional study was carried out in 10 randomly selected schools in the THD and a total of 400 school children were enrolled in the study. Body weight and height were measured using an electronic weighing scale and stadiometer respectively. Anthropometric indices: Height-for-Age Z scores (HAZ), Weight-for-Age Z scores (WAZ) and Body Mass Index-for-Age Z scores (BMIAZ) were analyzed and compared with WHO Growth Reference Standards using WHO Anthroplus software. Hemoglobin levels were determined using Urit-12 Haemoglobinometer and anaemia defined as Hemoglobin (Hb) < 11g/dl. Data analysis was done using the SPSS software. Results: the overall prevalence of malnutrition was 9.25%, prevalence of stunting 7.5% with 0.8% being severely stunted. The prevalence of wasting was 1% and underweight 0.7%. The overall prevalence of anaemia was 5%. Parents occupation and the absence of toilet were statistically associated with anaemia (P = 0.04 and P = 0.003). Age, floor type, absence of toilet and BMI were significantly associated with malnutrition (P = 0.00, P = 0.01, P = 0.02 and P = 0.003). Conclusion: this study revealed a low prevalence of malnutrition and anaemia which could be attributed to the deworming and nutrition supplement strategies which have been implemented

Accuracy of identifying incident stroke cases from linked healthcare data in UK Biobank

Objective In UK Biobank (UKB), a large population-based prospective study, cases of many diseases are ascertained through linkage to routinely collected, coded national health datasets. We assessed the accuracy of these for identifying incident strokes. Methods In a regional UKB subpopulation (n = 17,249), we identified all participants with ≥1 code signifying a first stroke after recruitment (incident stroke-coded cases) in linked hospital admission, primary care, or death record data. Stroke physicians reviewed their full electronic patient records (EPRs) and generated reference standard diagnoses. We evaluated the number and proportion of cases that were true-positives (i.e., positive predictive value [PPV]) for all codes combined and by code source and type. Results Of 232 incident stroke-coded cases, 97% had EPR information available. Data sources were 30% hospital admission only, 39% primary care only, 28% hospital and primary care, and 3% death records only. While 42% of cases were coded as unspecified stroke type, review of EPRs enabled a pathologic type to be assigned in >99%. PPVs (95% confidence intervals) were 79% (73%–84%) for any stroke (89% for hospital admission codes, 80% for primary care codes) and 83% (74%–90%) for ischemic stroke. PPVs for small numbers of death record and hemorrhagic stroke codes were low but imprecise. Conclusions Stroke and ischemic stroke cases in UKB can be ascertained through linked health datasets with sufficient accuracy for many research studies. Further work is needed to understand the accuracy of death record and hemorrhagic stroke codes and to develop scalable approaches for better identifying stroke types

Author's personal copy Mitofusins are required for angiogenic function and modulate different signaling pathways in cultured endothelial cells

The mitofusin proteins MFN1 and MFN2 function to maintain mitochondrial networks by binding one another and initiating outer mitochondrial membrane fusion. While it has recently been recognized that vascular endothelial cells rely upon mitochondria as signaling rather than energy-producing moieties, the role of mitochondrial dynamics in endothelial cell function has not been addressed. To begin to understand what role mitochondrial dynamics play in this context, we examined the regulation of MFN1 and MFN2 and the consequences of siRNA-mediated knockdown of these proteins in cultured endothelial cells. Treatment with VEGF-A led to the upregulation of MFN2 and, to a lesser extent, MFN1. Knockdown of either MFN led to disrupted mitochondrial networks and diminished mitochondrial membrane potential. Knockdown of either MFN decreased VEGF-mediated migration and differentiation into network structures. MFN ablation also diminished endothelial cell viability and increased apoptosis under low mitogen conditions. Knockdown of MFN2 uniquely resulted in a decrease in the generation of reactive oxygen species as well as the blunting of the gene expression of components of the respiratory chain and transcription factors associated with oxidative metabolism. In contrast, ablation of MFN1 led to the selective reduction of VEGF-stimulated Akt-eNOS signaling. Taken together, our data indicate that mitochondrial dynamics, particularly those mediated by the mitofusins, play a role in endothelial cell function and viability

A cross-sectional survey on the prevalence of anaemia and malnutrition in primary school children in the Tiko Health District, Cameroon

INTRODUCTION: Anaemia and malnutrition are common health problems in developing countries with children being the most vulnerable. They have negative impacts on human performance, growth and development, in children, both as cause and consequences of disease. Although annual mass deworming and nutrition supplement strategies have been implemented in the Tiko Health District (THD), no study has been carried out to determine the prevalence of anaemia and malnutrition. The aim of this study was therefore designed to determine the prevalence of anaemia and malnutrition among primary school children aged 5-15 years in the Tiko Health District. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out in 10 randomly selected schools in the THD and a total of 400 school children were enrolled in the study. Body weight and height were measured using an electronic weighing scale and stadiometer respectively. Anthropometric indices: Height-for-Age Z scores (HAZ), Weight-for-Age Z scores (WAZ) and Body Mass Index-for-Age Z scores (BMIAZ) were analyzed and compared with WHO Growth Reference Standards using WHO Anthroplus software. Hemoglobin levels were determined using Urit-12 Haemoglobinometer and anaemia defined as Hemoglobin (Hb) < 11g/dl. Data analysis was done using the SPSS software. Results: The overall prevalence of malnutrition was 9.25%, prevalence of stunting 7.5% with 0.8% being severely stunted. The prevalence of wasting was 1% and underweight 0.7%. The overall prevalence of anaemia was 5%. Parents occupation and the absence of toilet were statistically associated with anaemia (P = 0.04 and P = 0.003). Age, floor type, absence of toilet and BMI were significantly associated with malnutrition (P = 0.00, P = 0.01, P = 0.02 and P = 0.003). CONCLUSION: This study revealed a low prevalence of malnutrition and anaemia which could be attributed to the deworming and nutrition supplement strategies which have been implemented.http://www.panafrican-med-journal.compm2020School of Health Systems and Public Health (SHSPH

Mitofusin-2 Maintains Mitochondrial Structure and Contributes to Stress-Induced Permeability Transition in Cardiac Myocytes ▿ †

Mitofusin-2 (Mfn-2) is a dynamin-like protein that is involved in the rearrangement of the outer mitochondrial membrane. Research using various experimental systems has shown that Mfn-2 is a mediator of mitochondrial fusion, an evolutionarily conserved process responsible for the surveillance of mitochondrial homeostasis. Here, we find that cardiac myocyte mitochondria lacking Mfn-2 are pleiomorphic and have the propensity to become enlarged. Consistent with an underlying mild mitochondrial dysfunction, Mfn-2-deficient mice display modest cardiac hypertrophy accompanied by slight functional deterioration. The absence of Mfn-2 is associated with a marked delay in mitochondrial permeability transition downstream of Ca2+ stimulation or due to local generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Consequently, Mfn-2-deficient adult cardiomyocytes are protected from a number of cell death-inducing stimuli and Mfn-2 knockout hearts display better recovery following reperfusion injury. We conclude that in cardiac myocytes, Mfn-2 controls mitochondrial morphogenesis and serves to predispose cells to mitochondrial permeability transition and to trigger cell death