Epidemiological Survey of Urinary Schistosomiasisin some Primary Schools in a new focus behind Mount Cameroon, South West Region, Cameroon

Objective: To Provide baseline epidemiological data (Prevalence, Intensity of Infection and Knowledge) on Urinary Schistosomiasis in a New Focus behind Mount Cameroon.Design: Longitudinal Study.Setting: Eight (8) Primary Schools in Munyenge Health District, Fako Division, South West Cameroon.Subjects: Six hundred and thirty six (636) randomly selected primary school children aged between five and sixteen years old of both sexes.Results: The overall prevalence of urinary schistosomiasis was 78% with no significant difference (P.0.05) between the different sexes. Visible  haematuria had a prevalence of 35.1% with the highest prevalence observed in the 9 . 12-year-age group (87.5%). Response to  questionnaires was very poor with only 20.8% of the inhabitants having the knowledge of urinary schistosomiasis. Health . seeking behaviour showed that only 10.4% of infected children had sought treatment of any kind. Prevalence rate and intensity of infection varied significantly with age at P.0.05. Also mean egg counts varied significantly with schools (P.0.001).Conclusion: Munyenge village was identified as a very active focus for Urinary Schistosomiasis with heavy infection rates recorded in the schools closest to the springs. The construction of spring waters has provided suitable habitats for the survival of snails thereby enhancing the effective sustenance of transmission cycle which is capable of leading to further increase and severity of infection. Strengthening of school health programmes related to schistosomiasis in particular is, therefore, advocated

Prevalence of liver fluke infections and other gastrointestinal tract parasites in slaughtered cattle in Douala, Cameroon

A survey of the prevalence of liver fluke and other gastrointestinal parasites in cattle at the Douala slaughter house was conducted between March and September 2011. Three hundred and twenty (320) cattle consisting of 100 females and 220 males were examined post-mortem. Liver, bile and stool samples were collected to determine the prevalence and intensity of liver flukes and other intestinal parasites of these  ruminants. 10mls of bile collected from each cattle were concentrated by centrifugation at 3000rpm for two minutes, and the sediment examined under the microscope. Also, 0.2g of faecal material were collected, sieved and analyzed using the formol ether concentration technique. Results obtained showed that liver flukes had a general prevalence of 81.3% distributed as follows: 12.2% of the cattle were infected with Fasciola Sp only, 25.6 % with Dicrocoelium dendriticum only, and 43.4% with Fasciola sp and D. dendriticum. It was equally observed that more males 179 (81.4%) were infected than females 72 (72.0%), although the difference was not statistically significant. Males had a higher intensity of infection (300 epd and 410 epd) than females (265 epd and 365 epd) with Dicrocoelium and mixed infections respectively and these differences were statistically significant at p.0.035 and 0.043. From the stool analysis, 73.8% of the animals were infected with Trichostrongylus sp having the highest prevalence of 47.3%,(151) followed by Haemonchus sp, 37.2% (119) while the least prevalence was observed in Cooperia sp 7.5 (24). Seven livers were totally condemned (declared unfit for human  consumption ) due to heavy infections. Educating the Fulani herdsmen on better field management, drug administration, and subsidizing the supply of better anthelminthic drugs will lead to improved cattle production and animal proteins.Keywords: Liverflukes, Gastrointestinal parasites, Slaughter house, cattle, Prevalence, Intensity, Douala, Cameroo