Traditional veterinary remedies used by goat breeders in Lubumbashi city and its peri-urban areas (DR Congo)

Peu de données sont disponibles quant aux remèdes traditionnels administrés aux animaux en République démocratique du Congo. Les objectifs de l’enquête sont le recensement des recettes utilisées par les éleveurs de chèvres à Lubumbashi (province du Katanga) et sa proche périphérie, et l’étude de l’usage qu’ils en font en fonction des symptômes présentés parleurs animaux. Une enquête semi-structurée a été menée auprès de 50 éleveurs de caprins, préalablement sélectionnés car reconnaissant utiliser des recettes traditionnelles pour soigner leurs animaux. Douze recettes ont été recensées. L’enquête montre que les éleveurs traitent la majorité des symptômes rencontrés chez leurs chèvres avec des remèdes qu’ils confectionnent eux-mêmes. Néanmoins, cette approche se révèle ne pas être un choix : les éleveurs préféreraient, mêmes ils reconnaissent l’utilité et l’efficacité de ces remèdes, avoir les moyens d’administrer des médicaments. Toutes les plantes utilisées sont par ailleurs citées en d’autres lieux et d’autres circonstances comme plantes médicinales. / Few data are available on traditional remedies administered to animals in Democratic Republic of Congo. The aims of this study were to inventory traditional remedies used on goats in Lubumbashi (Katanga) and its peri-urban areas and to identify when these remedies are administered. A questionnaire survey was led with 50 owners of goats. Twelve traditional remedies have been identified as being used against major disease symptoms observed in goats. The present survey contributed to the inventory of traditional remedies used by goat breeders in the urban and peri-urban zone of Lubumbashi. All the used plants are already acknowledged in other places and other circumstances as healing plants.Projet interuniversitaire ciblé Cabrilu 2007 – 201

Characterization of traditional healers in the mountain forest region of Kahuzi-Biega, South-Kivu, DR Congo

Description of the subject. Several ethnobotanical studies have demonstrated links between traditional medicine practices and the ethnicity and geographical location of healers, while many others have concluded the opposite. This study deals with the typology of traditional healers in the mountain region of Kahuzi-Biega. Objectives. The goal is to understand whether the typology of traditional healers is related to their inter-ethnic and inter-zonal differences, based on diseases treated and plants used. Method. Ethnobotanical surveys were conducted using the "PSSVV" method. This involved 88 traditional healers recognized as "specialists" in 33 villages adjacent to the forest of Kahuzi-Biega, in DR Congo. Multivariate analysis (clustering, ordination, Mantel test, IndVal) were applied to establish typologies of traditional healers. Results. Multivariate analyses showed that ethnicity and geographical location did not explain the practices and knowledge of healers. However, by using the IndVal method, differences were observed in their degree of specialization. Non-specialized healers (70%) could be distinguished from specialized healers (30%). Two clear groups of specialists emerged; those who treat bone trauma and those who treat obstetric-gynecological complaints. The Mantel correlation test revealed a positive association (r = 0.134, p < 0.05) between the "healers-plants" and "healers-diseases" matrices. This indicates that healers who treat similar diseases use similar herbs. Both typologies have shown their preferences for forest species (81%), especially trees (51%). Conclusions. This exploratory study suggests that traditional healers are characterized based on their specializations. This result helps in creating strategies to preserve local traditional knowledge and apply it to the conservation of species

Détection des résidus d’antibiotiques dans les denrées alimentaires d’origine bovine et aviaire commercialisées à Lubumbashi (RD Congo)

Objectif : Dans le but de rechercher la présence des résidus d’antibiotiques dans les denrées alimentaires d’origine animale, une étude a été réalisée sur la viande et le foie des bovins ainsi que dans le gésier et le foie des poulets prélevés dans différents points d’abattage et de commerce de la ville de Lubumbashi en RD Congo.Méthodologie et résultats : Cent quarante-quatre échantillons (dont 77 issus des bovins et 67 issus de la volaille) ont été prélevés et analysés selon la « méthode des quatre plaques » (AFSSA). L’étude a montré que sur les 144 échantillons analysés, 43 (36 issus des bovins et 7 issus de la volaille) sont contaminés par des résidus d’antibiotiques. Le taux de contamination globale est de 29,86%. Il y a des prélèvements positifs à plusieurs résidus. Sur les 43 cas positifs, 29 (soit 67,44%) contiennent des résidus de pénicilline et tétracyclines, 9 (soit 20,93%) contiennent des résidus de tylosine et 5 (soit 11,62%) contiennent des résidus de colistine.Conclusion : L’étude est une sonnette d’alarme et fait craindre la présence des résidus d’antibiotiques dans les denrées alimentaires d’origine animale commercialisées à Lubumbashi. La méthode utilisée pour l’obtention de ces résultats est qualitative. Des études ultérieures avec les méthodes quantitatives plus poussées devraient cependant être menées pour identifier clairement la nature du ou des antibiotiques présents dans ces denrées, ainsi que les teneurs exactes.Mots-Clés : résidus d’antibiotiques, denrées, Lubumbashi, bovin, poule

Caractérisation des tradipraticiens de la région de forêt montagneuse de Kahuzi-Biega, sud-Kivu, RD Congo

Description of the subject. Several ethnobotanical studies have demonstrated links between traditional medicine practices and the ethnicity and geographical location of healers, while many others have concluded the opposite. This study deals with the typology of traditional healers in the mountain region of Kahuzi-Biega. Objectives. The goal is to understand whether the typology of traditional healers is related to their inter-ethnic and inter-zonal differences, based on diseases treated and plants used. Method. Ethnobotanical surveys were conducted using the “PSSVV” method. This involved 88 traditional healers recognized as “specialists” in 33 villages adjacent to the forest of Kahuzi-Biega, in DR Congo. Multivariate analysis (clustering, ordination, Mantel test, IndVal) were applied to establish typologies of traditional healers. Results. Multivariate analyses showed that ethnicity and geographical location did not explain the practices and knowledge of healers. However, by using the IndVal method, differences were observed in their degree of specialization. Non-specialized healers (70%) could be distinguished from specialized healers (30%). Two clear groups of specialists emerged; those who treat bone trauma and those who treat obstetric-gynecological complaints. The Mantel correlation test revealed a positive association (r = 0.134, p < 0.05) between the “healers-plants” and “healers-diseases” matrices. This indicates that healers who treat similar diseases use similar herbs. Both typologies have shown their preferences for forest species (81%), especially trees (51%). Conclusions. This exploratory study suggests that traditional healers are characterized based on their specializations. This result helps in creating strategies to preserve local traditional knowledge and apply it to the conservation of species.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Traditional plant-based remedies to control gastrointestinal disorders in livestock in the regions of Kamina and Kaniama (Katanga province, Democratic Republic of Congo)

Ethnopharmacological relevance: gastrointestinal parasitic diseases present one of the main constraints hindering the productivity of the livestock sector (goat and cattle). Due to the limited availability and affordability of deworming drugs, traditional herbal remedies are still frequently used. The study aims at collecting traditional knowledge on local plants and remedies used to treat gastrointestinal parasitoses in livestock in two adjacent territories (Haut-Lomami district). Material and methods: A field survey was carried out in a part of the Haut-Lomami district (province of Katanga). A semi-structured questionnaire was used to interview 44 people including farmers, traditional healers and livestock specialists (veterinarians and agronomist), identified as using or practicing traditional medicine. To prepare botanically identified herbarium specimens, cited plants were collected with the participation of interviewed people. Results: Although interviewed people cannot precisely identify the etiology of gastrointestinal disorders/parasitoses in domestic animals, they treat the condition with herbals collected in their near environment. Nineteen different traditional remedies were collected and described; 9 plant species were identified as commonly used to treat gastrointestinal parasitic infections. From these, Vitex thomasii De Wild (Verbenaceae) appears as the plant most often used. Conclusion: this survey contributed to the establishment of an inventory of plants used in livestock parasitic treatment in this region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Future studies are needed to confirm the efficacy and safety of these traditional remedies

Use of medicinal plants around the moutain forest of Kahuzi-Biega National park, site of the world heritage, DR Congo

info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublishe

Melioidosis in Africa: Time to Uncover the True Disease Load

Melioidosis is an often fatal infectious disease with a protean clinical spectrum, caused by the environmental bacterial pathogen Burkholderia pseudomallei. Although the disease has been reported from some African countries in the past, the present epidemiology of melioidosis in Africa is almost entirely unknown. Therefore, the common view that melioidosis is rare in Africa is not evidence-based. A recent study concludes that large parts of Africa are environmentally suitable for B. pseudomallei. Twenty-four African countries and three countries in the Middle East were predicted to be endemic, but no cases of melioidosis have been reported yet. In this study, we summarize the present fragmentary knowledge on human and animal melioidosis and environmental B. pseudomallei in Africa and the Middle East. We propose that systematic serological studies in man and animals together with environmental investigations on potential B. pseudomallei habitats are needed to identify risk areas for melioidosis. This information can subsequently be used to target raising clinical awareness and the implementation of simple laboratory algorithms for the isolation of B. pseudomallei from clinical specimens. B. pseudomallei was most likely transferred from Asia to the Americas via Africa, which is shown by phylogenetic analyses. More data on the virulence and genomic characteristics of African B. pseudomallei isolates will contribute to a better understanding of the global evolution of the pathogen and will also help to assess potential differences in disease prevalence and outcome

Comparative phylogeography of African fruit bats (Chiroptera, Pteropodidae) provide new insights into the outbreak of Ebola virus disease in West Africa, 2014–2016

International audienceBoth Ebolavirus and Marburgvirus were detected in several fruit bat species of the family Pteropodidae, suggesting that this taxon plays a key role in the life cycle of filoviruses. After four decades of Zaire Ebolavirus (ZEBOV) outbreaks in Central Africa, the virus was detected for the first time in West Africa in 2014. To better understand the role of fruit bats as potential reservoirs and circulating hosts between Central and West Africa, we examine here the phylogeny and comparative phylogeography of Pteropodidae. Our phylogenetic results confirm the existence of four independent lineages of African fruit bats: the genera Eidolon and Rousettus, and the tribes Epomophorini and Scotonycterini, and indicate that the three species suspected to represent ZEBOV reservoir hosts (Epomops franqueti, Hypsignathus monstrosus, and Myonycteris torquata) belong to an African clade that diversified rapidly around 8–7 Mya. To test for phylogeographic structure and for recent gene flow from Central to West Africa, we analysed the nucleotide variation of 675 cytochrome b gene (Cytb) sequences, representing eight fruit bat species collected in 48 geographic localities. Within Epomophorina, our mitochondrial data do not support the monophyly of two genera (Epomops and Epomophorus) and four species (Epomophorus gambianus, Epomops franqueti, Epomops buettikoferi, and Micropteropus pusillus). In Epomops, however, we found two geographic haplogroups corresponding to the Congo Basin and Upper Guinea forests, respectively. By contrast, we found no genetic differentiation between Central and West African populations for all species known to make seasonal movements, Eidolon helvum, E. gambianus, H. monstrosus, M. pusillus, Nanonycteris veldkampii, and Rousettus aegyptiacus. Our results suggest that only three fruit bat species were able to disperse directly ZEBOV from the Congo Basin to Upper Guinea: E. helvum, H. monstrosus, and R. aegyptiacus