Comparative study of thermal insulation boards from leaf and bark fibres of camel’s foot ( Piliostigma thonningii L.)

Plants and agricultural wastes with high degrees of fibrous content in form of lignocellulose compounds have been identified as main ingredient in composites, making them suitable for manufacturing of insulation boards and panels. Thus, several researches have succeeded in using these plants and agro waste fibres in developing renewable and environmentally friendly thermal insulation products. The aim of this study was to compare the performance of insulation boards made from leave and bark fibres of Pilios tigma thonningii L.in terms of density, water absorption, apparent thermal conductivity, specific heat and thermal diffusivity. The leave and the bark fibres were prepared in form of squared boards of 200 mm x 200 mm and thickness of 20 mm using natural ru bber latex as a binder. The fibre to binder ratio was varied with a composition of 1:1, 1:2, 1:3 and 1:4. The LFB recorded densities between 528.6 kg/m 3 and 538.4 kg/m3 while in the BFB the densities are between 558.3 kg/m3 and 711.8 kg/m3 at various compositions. The Percentage water absorption for the LFB is between 36.51% and 12.03% while the BFB is between 25.02% and 13.23%. Similarly, the apparent thermal conductivity values for LFB are between 0.032096 W/mK and 0.040855 W/mK while that of the BFB are between 0.039439 W/mK and 0.043406 W/mK. The specific heat values of the LFB are between 2901.88 J/kg.K and 3656.48 J/kg.K and that of the BFB are between 2044.46 J/kg.K and 2512.61 J/kg.K while the thermal diffusivity is between 2.05E-8m2/s and 8.07E-9m2/s for the LFB and 1.57E-8m2/s to 2.68E-8m2/s for BFB. The boards recorded thermal properties that are comparable to those of the commercially available products with LFB performing consistently better than the BFB. Key words: Thermal Insulation, Leave fibres, Bark fibres, apparent thermal conductivity, Lignocellulose compounds, Fibrous conten

Home delivery, umbilical cord care practices and postnatal care utilization among mothers in a rural community of Sokoto State

Introduction: The postnatal period is critical to the health and survival of mothers and newborns as it provide opportunities for promoting healthy behaviour including appropriate cord care practices. The study aimed to assess home delivery, cord cares practices and utilization of postnatal care services by mothers.Methods: A community-based descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 352 mothers of children less than one year in a rural community. A multistage sampling technique was used to select the respondents from the households. Close-ended pretested questionnaire were used to collect data through face-to-face interview and data analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 23.0.Results: Prevalence of home births was 70.7% and 48.2% of these deliveries were conducted by traditional birth attendants. More than three-quarters of mothers cleaned their baby’s umbilical cord but only 40.7% used cotton wool with methylated spirit. The most prevalent cleaning technique was cleaning cord base and surrounding skin simultaneously. Only 18.5% of the respondents went to the hospital following home delivery. Among these, 45.7% of them visited hospital for postnatal care within the first 24 hours, 10.9% visited on second day and 21.7% before the end of the first week.Conclusion: Home deliveries, inappropriate umbilical cord care practices and low utilization of postnatal care services are still prevalent practices in this community in spite of availability of a health facility. More health education programmes to promote appropriate newborn care practices are recommended.Keywords: Home deliveries, Cord care, Post-natal services utilizatio

Occurrence of mastitis and methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus in goats in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria

The objective of this study was to conduct a cross sectional study to assess the occurrence of mastitis and Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in goats in Zaria, Kaduna State from May to July 2013. A total of 386 fresh goat milk samples from both right and left halves of 198 lactating goats from National Animal Production and Research Institute (NAPRI) and other locations within Zaria metropolis were examined for the occurrence of mastitis and MRSA. The observed prevalence of mastitis in goats, defined by positive (≥+1) California Mastitis Test (CMT) was 119 (60.1%). The prevalence of mastitis showed significant variation among goats of different breeds (p=0.048) but no significant variation between age groups (p=0.890), location and goats raised under the two different systems of management (p=0.438). Also, there was no significant difference as to which udder half was most sub clinically affected (left or right). From a total of 386 fresh goat milk samples examined, 60 strains of staphylococci were isolated and identified using the conventional biochemical tests and 32 of which were identified as Staphylococcus aureus using the MicrogenTM STAPH-ID system. Furthermore, 12 of these 32 showed agglutinations with the PBP-2a Latex agglutination test reagent. The susceptibilities of the isolates to 14 antimicrobial agents were evaluated using the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method and interpreted as sensitive, intermediate or resistant following the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI, 2017). Out of the 32 isolates of S. aureus ; 90.63% were resistant to cefoxitin, Penicillin G (93.75%), Ampicillin (100%), Amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (34.38%), Ceftriaxone (71.88%), Vancomycin (31.25%), Gentamicin (31.25%), Kanamycin (46.88%), Erythromycin (43.75%), Tetracycline (40.63%), Ciprofloxacin (3.13%), Nitrofurantoin (15.63%), Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (25%) and Chloramphenicol (15.63%). All the isolates were resistant 2 or more antimicrobial agents, but none was simultaneously resistant to all. There were 28 antimicrobial resistant patterns in which resistance to Ampicillin, Penicillin G, Cefoxitin were the most frequent. Methicillin resistance was determined using Cefoxitin discs as a surrogate marker of mecA gene as recommended by Clinical Laboratory Standards International (CLSI). In conclusion, the findings of this study confirm the importance of S. aureus as a mastitis causing organism and the possible role of goats in the transmission of multiple drug resistant S. aureus.Keywords: mastitis, methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, goats, Zari

Roles of various virulence and resistance genes associated with Salmonella and methods of their identification

Salmonellosis is an infectious disease affecting human and animals. The virulence of Salmonella is a function of chromosomal and plasmid factors, many genes code for these factors. Salmonella genes can be classified as core (housekeeping) genes and accessory genes. The core genes of a species are those genes found in (nearly) all known members of the species and they include mostly genes that are necessary for the cell to survive and grow, these include gene encoding enzymes which function in biosynthetic pathways. Genes in the accessory genome are those unique to particular strains and are mainly in the following groups: genomic islands including Salmonella Pathogenicity islands (SPls), prophages, insertion sequences.Keywords: Genes, Pathogenicity, Resistance, Salmonella, Virulenc

Prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolated from bovine mastitis in settled Fulani herds in Kaduna State

A study was conducted to determine the prevalence and antibiotic resistance of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from bovine mastitis in settled Fulani herds in Kaduna state. Three hundred and sixty milk samples randomly collected from selected herds in Kaduna South, Igabi, Lere, Sabon-Gari, Giwa and Zaria were examined. The prevalence of mastitis at cow level was 26.9%, out of which 3.1% and 23.9% were clinical and subclinical mastitis, respectively. The prevalence of both S. aureus and MRSA were 15.3% and 7.8 % respectively. Significant proportion (42.9%) of the MRSA were isolated from cases of mastitis (P<0.05). Very high percentages of MRSA were resistance to penicillin (100.0%), amoxicillin (89.3%), ampicillin (89.3%), tetracycline (85.7%) and erythromycin (71.1%). The multiple drug resistance indices of the MRSA strains revealed that all the MRSA strains were resistant to 5 or more antibiotics tested; 6 (21.4%) strains were resistant to 6 antibiotics, 6 (21.4%) were resistant to 7 antibiotics, 8 (28.6%) were resistant 8 antibiotics and 4 (14.3%) were resistant to 9 antibiotics, while 19 (67.9%) exhibited the extensive drug classification pattern. The MIC values of the antibiotics showed that all (100%) have values greater than 256 μg/mL against oxacillin while 15 (53.6%) have values greater than 256 μg/mL against vancomycin, respectively. Nineteen (67.9%) of the MRSA isolates tested for PBP2a gave strongly positive (3+ to 4+) reactions in the Latex Agglutination Test, 5 (1.9%) were weakly positive (1+) in the Latex Agglutination Test while 4 (14.3%) were negative. The occurrence of MRSA in bovine mastitis is of public health concern due to difficulty in treatment of staphylococcal diseases and possible transmission of resistant pathogens to humans. Therefore, continuous monitoring and surveillance of antibiotic resistance pathogens, good husbandry practices, culling of infected cows and pasteurization of milk to eliminate MRSA and other pathogens are recommendedKeywords: Prevalence, antibiotic susceptibility, MRSA, Bovine mastitis, cow milk, multi drug resistance, extensive drug resistance (XDR), minimum inhibitor concentration, Penicillin Binding Protein 2

Seroprevalence of Brucellosis in sheep in Maigana and Birnin Gwari agro-ecological zones of Kaduna State, Nigeria

Brucellosis is an ancient and one of the world’s most widespread zoonotic diseases affecting public health and animal production. A cross-sectional study using simple random sampling was conducted between May and December, 2016 in Maigana and Birnin Gwari Agro-ecological zones of Kaduna State to determine the sero-prevalence of brucellosis in sheep. In addition the risk factors associated with sero-positivity in sheep were also assessed. A total of 400 sera samples comprised of 141 from males and 259 from females sheep were collected and screened for the presence of Brucella antibodies using Rose Bengal Plate test (RBPT) and competitive enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA). Sera analysis revealed that, 16.5% and 10.8% were seropositive to Brucella infection by RBPT and cELISA, respectively. There was statistically significant association between sex of the sheep and seropositivity to Brucella infection using RBPT (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, no statistically significant association between the age and breed of sheep and seropositivity to Brucella infection using RBPT and cELISA, respectively (P > 0.05). This study shows evidence of Brucella infection with high prevalence mainly among female sheep and the disease can be considered as a potential risk for both susceptible animals and humans in the study area. Therefore, creating awareness about brucellosis, interdisciplinary partnership and complementary effort between veterinary and public health professionals is very important to control the transmission of brucellosis.Keywords: Brucellosis, Kaduna State, Sheep, Sero-prevalenc

Epidemiological and pathological screening of suspected cases of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia in Yola Modern Abattoir, Adamawa State Nigeria

Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia is an important infectious disease of cattle caused by Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides and a major constraint to cattle production in sub-Saharan Africa. This study was aimed to identify pathological and histopathological lesions identified in cattle tentatively diagnosed with CBPP at Yola Modern Abattoir, Adamawa State. A total of 9,750 cattle were examined at post-mortem for a period of six months, 110 (1.13%) had lesions suggestive of CBPP out of which seventeen (17) were randomly selected and processed for histopathology based on standard laboratory protocols. Based on sex, CBPP lesion was observed more in female 63 (1.06%) than in the male 47 (1.24%). Whereas, CBPP lesions was observed highest in White Fulani breed 68 (1.14%) followed by Cross breeds 23 (91.16%) and Sokoto Gudali 19 (1.74%) and lowest in Red Bororo 10 (1.36%). There was insignificant statistical association (P>0.05) between CBPP lesions and sex and breed of cattle sampled. Age distribution of CBPP lesion was observed higher in cattle between ages of 4-7 years 79 (1.16%), followed by cattle of 1-3 years 28 (1.15%) and least in cattle less than 1 year 3 (0.60%) with significant statistical difference (P<0.05) between the age groups. Histopathology lesions observed include severe congestion of pulmonary blood vessel in all the lung tissues and fibrin exudation into inter-alveolar spaces with almost all the alveoli collapsed. The bronchiolar epithelium was observed to be thickened, hyperplastic and folded, with a considerable quantity of edematous fluid and numerous inflammatory cells seen in the lumen. In conclusion, this study had demonstrated the presence of CBPP lesions in cattle in the study area. Therefore, serological screening of all cattle, stamping out policies and aggressive annual vaccination campaigns are thus recommended in the study area

Sensitivity of Earthworm (Eisenia fetida) in Mining Soil from Ijero-Ekiti, Nigeria

Excavation and processing of mineral deposits are valuable revenue sources yet they contribute serious environmental problems worldwide. Mining activities are widespread and contribute to heavy metal contamination in rural communities in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Available research failed to establish how mining soil may impact on resident terrestrial organisms. This study assessed the health of soil from active mining site by testing it on earthworms (Eisenia fetida) for 10 weeks. Survival, mobility, morphology and behaviour of worms were assessed while soil was analyzed for selected heavy metals by atomic absorption spectrometry. Worm survival was evident as the proportion of reference soil increased in exposure mixture and improved until 92% in the control. Worms curled up at the bottom of test vessels with varying proportions of mining site soil and appeared discolored and dehydrated when taken out of test soil, with characteristic sluggishness, particularly as the proportion of mining soil increased in exposure mixtures. Though metal levels were within permissible limits, morphology of exposed worms were visibly impacted, which corresponds in severity with increasing proportion of mining soil. On the contrary, worms tested in 100% reference soil appeared healthy and active in upper part of exposure vessels. These results suggest that the tested mining soil had adverse impacts on mobility, morphology, behavior and survival of exposed organisms when compared with the control population. Therefore, food products grown downstream of the mining site may be at risk of heavy metal contamination with consequences on food quality, water quality and food chain

Prevalence of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia based on gross lesions in cattle at slaughter in Adamawa State, Nigeria

Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia is an important economic disease of cattle caused by Mycoplasma mycoides subspecies mycoides and manifested by anorexia, fever, dyspnoea, polypnoea, cough and nasal discharges. An eleven years (2006-2016) abattoir-based retrospective data were collated and analysed from Adamawa state Ministry of Livestock Production. Out of 241,700 cattle examined at post-mortem, 8,429 had CBPP-like lesions giving a prevalence of 3.49% (95% CI: 3.41-3.56). The overall prevalence for each local government area were 2.42% (95% CI: 2.35-2.49), 5.53% (95% CI: 5.30-5.74) and 8.97% (95% CI: 8.56-9.41) for Yola, Mubi and Ganye abattoirs respectively. There was significant association (p<0.05) between Local Government Areas and occurrence of CBPP. The annual highest prevalence of 5.75% (95% CI: 5.43-6.09) was recorded in 2010 with 1,128 cases and lowest prevalence of 2.43% (95% CI: 2.23-2.66) was recorded in 2007 with 505 cases. Based on season, highest prevalence rate of 3.85% (95% CI: 3.58-4.14) was recorded in February with 709 cases and lowest prevalence rate of 3.03% (95% CI: 2.80-3.28) was recorded in December with 605 cases. Both annual and monthly prevalence rates varied significantly (p<0.05). It was concluded that CBPP is endemic and widespread in Adamawa state. Hence, we recommend increased funding in the control of the disease, restriction of cattle movement and provision of cattle ranches.Keywords: Adamawa state, Cattle, Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia, Gross lesions, Prevalenc

Rectovaginal Fistula Following Sexual Intercourse: a Case Report

Female genital fistula is an important feature of the developing countries gynecology. Most of the rectovaginal fistulae encountered in the tropics are due to obstetrics causes and genital malignancies. In developed countries, radiation injury and Crohn\u2019s disease are also common etiological factors. The index case is reported to highlight the rare situation, where a 24-year old married nullipara sustained low rectovaginal fistula following normal coitus. She was later divorced by her husband.La fistule de l\u2019organe g\ue9nital de la femme est un important trait de la gyn\ue9cologie des pays en d\ue9veloppement. La plupart des fistules rectovaginales des r\ue9gions tropicales sont d\ufbes \ue0 des effets obst\ue9triques et des malignit\ue9s g\ue9nitales. Dans les pays d\ue9velopp\ue9s, les blessures d\ufbes aux radiations et \ue0 la maladie de Crohn sont aussi des facteurs \ue9tiologiques fr\ue9quents. Le cas servant de rep\ue8re est celui concernant la rare situation o\uf9 une femme mari\ue9e nullipare de 24 ans a pu supporter une faible fistule rectovaginale apr\ue8s un coit normal. Son maria a \ue0 cet effet divorc\ue9 d\u2019elle