L’hygiène dans l’approvisionnement et la distribution de la viande de brousse à Brazzaville – Congo

Objectif : La consommation de la viande de chasse au Congo et particulièrement à Brazzaville prend de plus en plus d’ampleur du fait de la forte demande du produit. On est arrivé à se demander si cette viande arrive dans les lieux de commercialisation dans les conditions adéquates et sous surveillance sanitaire. La présente étude initiée dans ce sens se propose de connaitre les voies d’accès de la viande de chasse à Brazzaville et d’apprécier la qualité des emballages, les conditions transport, le type de conditionnement et les conditions de conservation qui peuvent d’une part, présenter des risques de contamination pour la viande de chasse et d’autre part, constituer des conditions favorables à la contamination. Methodologie et résultats : La méthode de collecte de données a consisté à réaliser une enquête impliquant les acteurs à tous les niveaux du circuit de distribution de la viande de chasse. Cette enquête a consisté à administrer un questionnaire assez détaillé sur les voies d’accès et les modalités de ravitaillement en viande de chasse, aux vendeurs de viande dans les marchés, aux transporteurs du produit, aux grossistes et aux magasiniers, personnes auprès desquels les vendeurs confient les produits à conserver. L’enquête a duré 30 jours et s’est déroulé dans les 7 arrondissements que compte la ville de Brazzaville. Elle a concernée 157 acteurs oeuvrant dans l’approvisionnement (ravitaillement) et la vente de la viande de brousse à savoir ; les fournisseurs, les restaurateurs, les magasiniers, les vendeurs détaillants, les chauffeurs des moyens de transport, le personnel gérant les compagnies de transport aérien, les propriétaires des moyens navigants et les fonctionnaires en charge de l’hygiène et de l’assainissement. L’enquête s’est déroulée sur la base des contacts individuels afin de recueillir les opinons personnelles concernant les modalités d’approvisionnement, de transport, de distribution et d’emmagasinage de la viande de chasse. Cette enquête a pris en compte les caractéristiques sociodémographiques en relation avec l’approvisionnement, le transport, la distribution et l’emmagasinage de la viande de chasse dans la ville de Brazzaville. La population concernée est dominée à 55,70% par les femmes. La viande de chasse arrive à Brazzaville par 6 axes principaux. Il s’agit de 3 voies terrestres (routes nationales 1 & 2, route de Mayama), la voie ferrée, la voie navale et la voie aérienne. Concernant le transport, Il n’existe pas de moyens (véhicules) appropriés affectés au transport de la viande de brousse et les conditions de transport actuelles ne sont pas adaptées au transport de cet aliment destiné à la consommation. Les objets utilisés comme emballages sont des matériaux recyclés dont le plus usité (31,15%), est le sac en jute synthétique couramment désigné en langue locale par sac ‘’nguiri’’. Malgré cette prédominance, le sac ‘’nguiri’ comme les autres matériaux ne remplissent pas les qualités exigés à un objet pour qu’il joue véritablement le rôle dévolue à un emballage. Conclusion et application : En conclusion, des investigations ont été faites et ont permis d’identifier les voies d’accès de la viande de chasse et d’aider à cerner les conditions pouvant constituer les sources probables de contamination de la viande de chasse par les micro-organismes du sol. Il s’agira pour la suite des travaux d’établir en laboratoire et à partir des échantillons prélevés la qualité des micro-organismes pathogènes qui infestent la viande de chasse pendant son transport. Mots clés : Voies d’accès, commerce, viande de chasse, Brazzaville-Cong

Pheochromocytoma in pregnancy: Case report

This is a case presentation of a 32 year old woman with pheochromocytoma diagnosed at 27 weeks of gestation, she was managed till term, induced and had assisted vaginal delivery. The pheochromocytoma was surgically re-sected successfully at six weeks postpartum

Switch from 200 to 350 CD4 baseline count: what it means to HIV care and treatment programs in Kenya

Introduction: With the increasing population of infected individuals in Africa and constrained resources for care and treatment, antiretroviralmanagement continues to be an important public health challenge. Since the announcement of World Health Organization recommendation andguidelines for initiation of antiretroviral Treatment at CD4 count below 350, many developing countries are adopting this strategy in their countryspecific guidelines to care and treatment of HIV and AIDS. Despite the benefits to these recommendations, what does this switch from 200 to 350CD4 count mean in antiretroviral treatment demand? Methods: A Multi-centre study involving 1376 patients in health care settings in Kenya. CD4count was carried out by flow cytometry among the HIV infected individuals in Kenya and results analyzed in view of the In-country and the newCD4 recommendation for initiation of antiretroviral treatment. Results: Across sites, 32% of the individual required antiretroviral at <200 CD4Baseline, 40% at <250 baseline count and 58% based on the new criteria of <350 CD4 Count. There were more female (68%) than Male(32%).Different from <200 and <250 CD4 baseline criteria, over 50% of all age groups required antiretroviral at 350 CD4 baseline. Age groupsbetween 41-62 led in demand for ART. Conclusion: With the new guidelines, demand for ARVs has more than doubled with variations notedwithin regions and age groups. As A result, HIV Care and Treatment Programs should prepare for this expansion for the benefits to be realized.Key words: CD4, New criteria, HIV, AIDS, care and treatment, ARV initiatio

Comparative Analysis of CBRM Cases in Kenya, Ethiopia and Tunisia

In various countries, development and conservation organizations and national policymakers have been experimenting with ways of applying the community-based natural resource management approach to the unique social and biophysical characteristics of pastoralist rangeland settings, with mixed results. We carried out comparative case study research on community-based rangeland management (CBRM) in a variety of settings in Ethiopia, Kenya and Tunisia with the objective of identifying what kinds of strategies and methods work in which social and ecological contexts. We used an “options by context” approach guided by a research protocol that includes key variables and descriptors for characterizing the implementing organization’s approach to CBRM and important contextual factors that may vary from place to place and affect the implementation and success of the approach. The commonalities among our cases include: i) community governance and management structures for rangeland management; ii) the geographic rangeland unit which those structures are managing, and iii) a development agent that is supporting the community. We found that differences among the cases in the challenges faced and their degree of success depended at least as much on certain aspects of social and biophysical context as it did on the exact nature of the approach being implemented by the development agent. For example, the extent to which there are effective natural or social borders that provide the rangeland community with some degree of separation from neighbours is crucial; without such landscape features, the design principle of clearly defined rights to a clearly defined piece of land belonging to a clearly defined community is difficult to implement in any straightforward way. In some pastoral rangeland contexts, conventional community-based approaches need substantial modification to be effective in contexts with the highest levels of spatio-temporal variability, mobility and openness of the landscape

Evaluation of mycotoxin content in soybean (Glycine max l.) grown in Rwanda

Soybean is a critical food and nutritional security crop in Rwanda. Promoted by the Rwandan National Agricultural Research System for both adults and as an infant weaning food, soybean is grown by approximately 40% of households. Soybean may be susceptible to the growth of mycotoxin-producing moulds; however, data has been contradictory. Mycotoxin contamination is a food and feed safety issue for grains and other field crops. This study aimed to determine the extent of mycotoxin contamination in soybean, and to assess people’s awareness on mycotoxins. A farm-level survey was conducted in 2015 within three agro-ecological zones of Rwanda suitable for soybean production. Soybean samples were collected from farmers (n=300) who also completed questionnaires about pre-and post-harvest farm practices, and aflatoxin awareness. The concentration of total aflatoxin in individual soybean samples was tested by enzymelinked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using a commercially-available kit. Other mycotoxins were analyzed using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LCMS/ MS) on 10 selected sub samples. Only 7.3% of the respondents were aware of aflatoxin contamination in foods, but farmers observed good postharvest practices including harvesting the crop when the pods were dry. Using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), only one sample had a concentration (11 μg/kg) above the most stringent EU maximum permitted limit of 4 μg/kg. Multi-mycotoxins liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) results confirmed that soybeans had low or undetectable contamination; only one sample contained 13μg/kg of sterigmatocystine. The soybean samples from Rwanda obtained acceptably low mycotoxin levels. Taken together with other studies that showed that soybean is less contaminated by mycotoxins, these results demonstrate that soybean can be promoted as a nutritious and safe food. However, there is a general need for educating farmers on mycotoxin contamination in food and feed to ensure better standards are adhered to safeguard the health of the consumers regarding these fungal secondary metabolites.Key words: soybean, safety, mould, aflatoxin, mycotoxins, sterigmatocystine, ELISA, LC-MS/MS, Rwand

Volcanic-aerosol-induced changes in stratospheric ozone following the eruption of Mount Pinatubo

Measurements of lower stratospheric ozone in the Tropics using electrochemical concentrations cell (ECC) sondes and the airborne UV Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) system after the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo are compared with the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment 2 (SAGE 2) and ECC sonde measurements from below the eruption to determine what changes have occurred as a result. Aerosol data from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) and the visible and IR wavelengths of the lidar system are used to examine the relationship between aerosols and ozone changes. Ozone decreases of 30 percent at altitudes between 19 and 26 km, partial column (16-28 km) decreases of about 27 D.U., and slight increases (5.4 D.U.) between 28 and 31 km are found in comparison with SAGE 2 climatological values

A Comprehensive Genetic Analysis of Candidate Genes Regulating Response to Trypanosoma congolense Infection in Mice

About one-third of cattle in sub-Saharan Africa are at risk of contracting “Nagana”—a disease caused by Trypanosoma parasites similar to those that cause human “Sleeping Sickness.” Laboratory mice can also be infected by trypanosomes, and different mouse breeds show varying levels of susceptibility to infection, similar to what is seen between different breeds of cattle. Survival time after infection is controlled by the underlying genetics of the mouse breed, and previous studies have localised three genomic regions that regulate this trait. These three “Quantitative Trait Loci” (QTL), which have been called Tir1, Tir2 and Tir3 (for Trypanosoma Infection Response 1–3) are well defined, but nevertheless still contain over one thousand genes, any number of which may be influencing survival. This study has aimed to identify the specific differences associated with genes that are controlling mouse survival after T. congolense infection. We have applied a series of analyses to existing datasets, and combined them with novel sequencing, and other genetic data to create short lists of genes that share polymorphisms across susceptible mouse breeds, including two promising “candidate genes”: Pram1 at Tir1 and Cd244 at Tir3. These genes can now be tested to confirm their effect on response to trypanosome infection