PROSPECTION, COLLECTE ET CARACTERISATION AGROMORPHOLOGIQUE DES MORPHOTYPES DE VOANDZOU [VIGNA SUBTERRANEA (L.) VERDC. (FABACEAE)] DE LA ZONE SAVANICOLE EN COTE D’IVOIRE

In Africa, Bambara groundnut [Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.] is the third most important grain-legume after groundnut (Arachis hypogaea ) and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata). An extended mission of exploration and collection has been achieved in the savannah area of Côte d’Ivoire to acquire knowledge on the plant management by farmers. Agromorphological performances of 15 collected landraces have been evaluated in experimental plots established in Korhogo. Sixty six (66) villages were visited and 156 accessions of Bambara groundnut were collected. The results showed that Bambara groundnut is mainly cultivated by women (90 %). The landraces Ci2, Ci5, Ci6 and Ci1 have been identified as the mostly grown and consumed in savannah area. Chemical products ( cypermetrin and profenofos) and ash were often used for seeds storage. Moreover, Ocimum canum , Hyptis spicigera , Azadirachta indica and Khaya senegalensis are also used in seeds stock. Multifactorial analysis indicated three distinctive groups of landrace: Early maturing landraces with low vegetative development and low seed yield; late maturing landraces with high vegetative development and high seed yield; late maturing landraces with medium vegetative development and high value of seed yield components

Analyse comparative des initiatives One Health en Guinée et en République Démocratique du Congo: Un appel à l’opérationnalisation

La Guinée et la République Démocratique du Congo (RDC) sont deux pays confrontés à des maladies zoonotiques (ré)émergentes, lesquelles représentent de graves menaces pour la santé publique et pour l’économie. Cela renforce l’importance de mettre l'accent sur les approches interdisciplinaires pour la prévention, la détection et l’atténuation des maladies infectieuses afin de mettre en place des systèmes de réponses adéquats. Dans les dernières années, des efforts ont été fournis dans les deux pays pour la conception, la mise en œuvre et la promotion de l’approche “Une Seule Santé” (One Health) qui offre des solutions à l’interface homme-animal-plante-écosystèmes. Cependant, dans ces pays, il n’existe pas une approche systémique “Une Seule Santé” qui soit réellement opérationnelle. Ainsi, cet article vise à faire une analyse comparative des initiatives « One Health » (OH) en Guinée et en RDC. Les résultats suggèrent qu'il existe un engagement fort de la part du gouvernement guinéen à signer un ordre conjoint de collaboration entre les trois départements clés, mais la coopération et la collaboration entre les différents secteurs et disciplines font défaut. En RDC, trois plateformes existent, mais leurs actions ne sont pas coordonnées, ce qui démontre les lacunes dans la vision globale que devrait avoir l’approche OH. Le défi majeur dans ces deux pays est d'adopter une approche holistique pour dépasser les structures et les paradigmes organisationnels et disciplinaires pour développer une véritable coopération entre tous les secteurs directement ou indirectement touchés par les maladies à potentiel épidémique.   Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are two countries facing (re)emerging zoonotic diseases, which pose serious threats to public health and the economy. This reinforces the importance of emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches for the prevention, detection, and mitigation of infectious diseases to put in place adequate response systems. In recent years, efforts have been made in both countries for the design, implementation, and promotion of the “One Health” (OH) approach which offers solutions at the human-animal-animal-plant-ecosystems interface. However, in these countries, there is no operational OH systemic approach. Thus, this article aims to make a comparative analysis of the OH initiatives in Guinea and the DRC. Findings suggest there is a strong commitment on the part of the government of Guinea to sign a joint order of collaboration between the three key departments, but cooperation and collaboration between different sectors and disciplines is lacking. In the DRC, three platforms exist but are not coordinated, which shows gaps in the overall vision that OH should be in the country. The major challenge in these two countries is to adopt a holistic approach to go beyond organizational and disciplinary structures and paradigms to develop real coordination and cooperation between all the sectors directly or indirectly affected by diseases with epidemic potential

Dynamics of antigenemia and transmission intensity of Wuchereria bancrofti following cessation of mass drug administration in a formerly highly endemic region of Mali

Background After seven annual rounds of mass drug administration (MDA) in six Malian villages highly endemic for Wuchereria bancrofti (overall prevalence rate of 42.7%), treatment was discontinued in 2008. Surveillance was performed over the ensuing 5 years to detect recrudescence. Methods Circulating filarial antigen (CFA) was measured using immunochromatographic card tests (ICT) and Og4C3 ELISA in 6–7 year-olds. Antibody to the W. bancrofti infective larval stage (L3) antigen, Wb123, was tested in the same population in 2012. Microfilaraemia was assessed in ICT-positive subjects. Anopheles gambiae complex specimens were collected monthly using human landing catch (HLC) and pyrethrum spray catch (PSC). Anopheles gambiae complex infection with W. bancrofti was determined by dissection and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of mosquito pools. Results Annual CFA prevalence rates using ICT in children increased over time from 0% (0/289) in 2009 to 2.7% (8/301) in 2011, 3.9% (11/285) in 2012 and 4.5% (14/309) in 2013 (trend χ 2  = 11.85, df =3, P = 0.0006). Wb123 antibody positivity rates in 2013 were similar to the CFA prevalence by ELISA (5/285). Although two W. bancrofti-infected Anopheles were observed by dissection among 12,951 mosquitoes collected by HLC, none had L3 larvae when tested by L3-specific RT-PCR. No positive pools were detected among the mosquitoes collected by pyrethrum spray catch. Whereas ICT in 6–7 year-olds was the major surveillance tool, ICT positivity was also assessed in older children and adults (8–65 years old). CFA prevalence decreased in this group from 4.9% (39/800) to 3.5% (28/795) and 2.8% (50/1,812) in 2009, 2011 and 2012, respectively (trend χ 2  = 7.361, df =2, P = 0.0067). Some ICT-positive individuals were microfilaraemic in 2009 [2.6% (1/39)] and 2011 [8.3% (3/36)], but none were positive in 2012 or 2013. Conclusion Although ICT rates in children increased over the 5-year surveillance period, the decrease in ICT prevalence in the older group suggests a reduction in transmission intensity. This was consistent with the failure to detect infective mosquitoes or microfilaraemia. The threshold of ICT positivity in children may need to be re-assessed and other adjunct surveillance tools considered

Vers l’éradication de la poliomyélite dans les pays en développement : freins et leviers.

International audienc

Genetic diversity, structure, gene flow and evolutionary relationships within the Sorghum bicolor wild-weedy-crop complex in a western African region

UMR 1334 AGAP : Equipe AFEF ‘Architecture et Fonctionnement des Espèces fruitières’ ; Team AFFS ‘Architecture and Functioning of Fruit Species’ Contact: [email protected] audienceGene flow between domesticated plants and their wild relatives is one of the major evolutionary processes acting to shape their structure of genetic diversity. Earlier literature, in the 1970s, reported on the interfertility and the sympatry of wild, weedy and cultivated sorghum belonging to the species Sorghum bicolor in most regions of sub-Saharan Africa. However, only a few recent surveys have addressed the geographical and ecological distribution of sorghum wild relatives and their genetic structure. These features are poorly documented, especially in western Africa, a centre of diversity for this crop. We report here on an exhaustive in situ collection of wild, weedy and cultivated sorghum assembled in Mali and in Guinea. The extent and pattern of genetic diversity were assessed with 15 SSRs within the cultivated pool (455 accessions), the wild pool (91 wild and weedy forms) and between them. FST and RST statistics, distance-based trees, Bayesian clustering methods, as well as isolation by distance models, were used to infer evolutionary relationships within the wild–weedy–crop complex. Firstly, our analyses highlighted a strong racial structure of genetic diversity within cultivated sorghum (FST = 0.40). Secondly, clustering analyses highlighted the introgressed nature of most of the wild and weedy sorghum and grouped them into two ecogeographical groups. Such closeness between wild and crop sorghum could be the result of both sorghum’s domestication history and preferential post-domestication crop-to-wild gene flow enhanced by farmers’ practices. Finally, isolation by distance analyses showed strong spatial genetic structure within each pool, due to spatially limited dispersal, and suggested consequent gene flow between the wild and the crop pools, also supported by RST analyses. Our findings thus revealed important features for the collection, conservation and biosafety of domesticated and wild sorghum in their centre of diversity

Factors Associated with Malaria Preventive Measures among Pregnant Women in Guinea

Background. Malaria control interventions have been scaled up, particularly those in pregnant women in Guinea. Despite that, coverage of key malaria preventive measure (MPM) indicators remains low. Therefore, it is vital to understand the reasons behind that, especially for the low coverage of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) and long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets (LLIN). Methods. We conducted a cross-sectional survey in nine district hospitals in Guinea. Pregnant women received for delivery were interviewed to collect sociodemographic and obstetrical parameters. Associated factors with MPMs were investigated through univariate analysis and classification and regression tree (CART). Results. A total of 2248 parturients participated in this study. Among pregnant women using mosquito nets (63.5% (61.4%, 65.5%)), only 41.2% (39.1%, 43.3%) had used it regularly during the last two weeks preceding delivery. Similarly, most pregnant women (57.9% (55.8%, 59.9%)) had received less than three doses of SP, and only a few pregnant women (23.9% (22.1%, 25.7%)) have benefited from full MPMs. Parturient’s age, marital status, time spent in residence, place of residence, level of education, distance from home to the health centre, health conditions, occupation, head of the household’s occupation, the presence of garbage and stagnant water in the neighbourhood, source of running water, and the number of pregnancies were significantly statistically associated with MPMs in pregnant women. However, the number of antenatal care visits (ANC), means of transportation used by the pregnant woman to accomplish ANCs, and stagnant water in the neighbourhood were the three preponderant factors. Conclusion. The low coverage of SP and LLINs among pregnant women requires revitalising some strategies, especially improving ANC coverage and more efforts to reduce inequalities in access to those services due to sociodemographic status. Education on the benefits of these MPMs should also be emphasised

Sickle Cell Disease: Metabolomic Profiles of Vaso-Occlusive Crisis in Plasma and Erythrocytes

International audienc

Current clinical presentations of AIDS dementia in a tropical environment: study of 26 observations in the neurology department of the University Hospital of Conakry

Abstract Introduction In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the clinical and progressive diagnostic certainty of AIDS dementia is difficult to establish due to under-medicalization and delays in consultation and especially the diversity of etiologies of demented states. Material and methods We carried out a retrospective study of 196 patients hospitalized for dementia syndrome between 2016 and 2021 in the neurology department of the University Hospital of Conakry. The criteria labeled in this study are those retained by the DSM-IV and the classification of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) developed in accordance with the WHO. Results HIV etiology was identified in patients aged 44–67 years (17 women and 19 men). The clinical picture was dominated by severe cognitive disorders, slowed ideation, memory disorders and reduced motor skills associated with personality changes. Neurological examination revealed dysphoric disorders in most patients, sphincter abnormalities in 13 cases and labio-lingual tremor in 11 cases. Diagnosis was based on positive serological tests for HIV1 antibodies (25 cases) and HIV2 antibodies (1 case) using the Elisa and Western blot techniques, and the presence of discretely hypercellular CSF. Magnetic resonance imaging contributed to the diagnosis, showing diffuse white matter abnormalities with hyper signals on T2-weighted or FLAIR sequences. Conclusion This study shows a non-stereotype clinical picture of AIDS dementia requiring a differential diagnosis with other infectious dementias. These results are important for the therapeutic and prognostic discussion