Use of drugs and antibiotics in poultry production in Ghana

This study was designed to assess the extent of drug and antibiotic use in small and large commercial poultry producers in Ghana, and the extent of the knowledge, perceptions and practice of drug withdrawal period inpoultry production. In all, 483 poultry farmers in Greater Accra, Ashanti and Central regions were interviewed using a prepared questionnaire. The sources of knowledge of which drug to buy and proportions of farmers that used such sources were personal experience, 33.3 per cent (n=481); veterinarians, 21.4 per cent; veterinary technicians, 20.6 per cent; drug sellers or shops, 18.7 per cent; and other farmers, 6.0 per cent. The drugs used by respondents (excluding vitamins and mineral supplements) could broadly be classified as antibacterials (52.0%, n=1559), coccidiostats or coccidicidals (33.7%), and dewormers (14.3%). Among the antibacterials, the tetracyclines formed the largest class (35.7%, n=831), followed by the nitrofurans (23.1%), penicillinstreptomycin combinations (18%), and sulphonamides and sulphonamide combinations (8.3%). For thecoccidiostats, the largest group comprised drugs with sulphonamides or their combination (58.4%, n=539), followed by those with amprolium and amprolium combinations (39.1%). The dewormers were mainly oftwo classes: those containing piperazine (50.7%, n=229) and those with levamisole (49.3%). When asked what they did with eggs when layers were under drug treatment, a significant proportion of respondents (91.1%, n=426) said they sold the eggs. When asked whether they hadheard the term “withdrawal period”, 47.4% (n=479) of the respondents replied in the affirmative. The mean (± SE) days given by respondents (who had heard the term) as the minimum length of the withdrawal period (WP) were 8±0.4 days (n=166) for broilers (range 0-28 days with median of 7 days) and 7±0.4 days (n=171) for eggs (range 0-26 days with median of 5 days). The reasons given for withdrawal period being unnecessary orimpracticable in Ghana were mainly economic or ignorance and lack of knowledge. The study brought out issues on withdrawal period and drug management practices that will help reduce or avoid residues in eggsand meat, and need to be tackled seriously

Animal health care delivery to small ruminants in peri-urban Ghana

The study aimed at defining the problems of small ruminant keepers in peri-urban areas of Ghana regarding animal health care (AHC), and assessing the quality of the structure and process of the AHC system. Small ruminant keepers in four regions were surveyed using a questionnaire. In all 244 respondents in the Central (35.2%), Western (35.2%), Greater Accra (26.2%), and Ashanti (3.3%) regions were interviewed. Feeding animals was the major problem (31%) identified, followed by housing, diseases, destruction of crops by animals, lack of knowledge on management and high mortality, in decreasing importance. Most animal health needs of respondents were met by veterinarians and technical officers (59%), and by animal owners (34%). The majority (61%) said they had experienced no difficulty in getting help from government veterinarians or technical officers. Most services provided by the Veterinary Services Directorate, except meat inspection, were used by most respondents. The indicators of quality of delivery of veterinary services showed significantly higher proportions of respondents finding accessibility or equity to be poor; drug costs being expensive; services, vaccines and drugs being unavailable; and service charges being unaffordable. These are indicative of weaknesses in the AHC delivery system, which ought to be addressed

Sero-epidemiology of Toxocara canis infection in children attending four selected health facilities in the central region of Ghana

Objective: The study determined the seroprevalence of Toxocara canis infection among children attending four selected health facilities in the Central Region of Ghana.Design: Cross-sectional studyMethod: Sera from 566 children aged 1-15 years attending four selected health facilities in the Central Region of Ghana between July and September 2012 was used in a Toxocara excretory-secretory antigenbased ELISA to detect serum IgG. A short questionnaire was designed to obtain data on respondents as to age, gender, educational level, locality of residence, habits of washing of fruits, vegetable and hands before eating, keeping of pet (dogs or cats) , and history of playing with soil and pets. Clinical information was also collected. Associations between sero-positivity and age group, gender, risk factors, educational level and other variables were determined by Chi square test.Results: The overall sero-prevalence was 53.5% (n=566). Age, educational level and hospital visited were significantly associated with sero-positivity (p< 0.05). Children with history of playing with soil (χ2=9.03, p=0.003), pet-keeping (χ2=14.77, p=0.001) and not washing hands with soap before eating (χ2=5.82, p=0.016) were significantly associated with sero-positivity.Conclusion: The sero-prevalence of T. canis infection in children in the study was high. The children should be educated to desist from risk factors such as playing with soil and pets and be encouraged to ensure proper personal hygiene.Keywords: Seroprevalence, Toxocariasis, risk factors, children, Ghan

A survey of Salmonella spp and Campylobacter spp in dairy goat faeces and bulk tank milk in the Murcia region of Spain

This study was designed to investigate the occurrence of Salmonella spp and Campylobacter spp in faeces samples from 222 healthy Murciano-Granadina dairy goats reared on 12 farms in Spain and in samples of bulk tank milk from 11 of those herds. Neither Salmonella spp nor Campylobacter spp were isolated from any of the samples. Our results suggest that, under the management practices applied to this breed in Spain, Murciano-Granadina goats are not likely to be a significant reservoir for these food-borne pathogens

The novel curcumin analog FLLL32 decreases STAT3 DNA binding activity and expression, and induces apoptosis in osteosarcoma cell lines

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Curcumin is a naturally occurring phenolic compound shown to have a wide variety of antitumor activities; however, it does not attain sufficient blood levels to do so when ingested. Using structure-based design, a novel compound, FLLL32, was generated from curcumin. FLLL32 possesses superior biochemical properties and more specifically targets STAT3, a transcription factor important in tumor cell survival, proliferation, metastasis, and chemotherapy resistance. In our previous work, we found that several canine and human osteosarcoma (OSA) cell lines, but not normal osteoblasts, exhibit constitutive phosphorylation of STAT3. Compared to curcumin, we hypothesized that FLLL32 would be more efficient at inhibiting STAT3 function in OSA cells and that this would result in enhanced downregulation of STAT3 transcriptional targets and subsequent death of OSA cells.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Human and canine OSA cells were treated with vehicle, curcumin, or FLLL32 and the effects on proliferation (CyQUANT^®), apoptosis (SensoLyte^®Homogeneous AMC Caspase- 3/7 Assay kit, western blotting), STAT3 DNA binding (EMSA), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), survivin, and matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP2) expression (RT-PCR, western blotting) were measured. STAT3 expression was measured by RT-PCR, qRT- PCR, and western blotting.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our data showed that FLLL32 decreased STAT3 DNA binding by EMSA. FLLL32 promoted loss of cell proliferation at lower concentrations than curcumin leading to caspase-3- dependent apoptosis, as evidenced by PARP cleavage and increased caspase 3/7 activity; this could be inhibited by treatment with the pan-caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-FMK. Treatment of OSA cells with FLLL32 decreased expression of survivin, VEGF, and MMP2 at both mRNA and protein levels with concurrent decreases in phosphorylated and total STAT3; this loss of total STAT3 occurred, in part, via the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These data demonstrate that the novel curcumin analog FLLL32 has biologic activity against OSA cell lines through inhibition of STAT3 function and expression. Future work with FLLL32 will define the therapeutic potential of this compound <it>in vivo</it>.</p

Social capital and active membership in the Ghana National Health Insurance Scheme - a mixed method study

BACKGROUND: People’s decision to enroll in a health insurance scheme is determined by socio-cultural and socio-economic factors. On request of the National health Insurance Authority (NHIA) in Ghana, our study explores the influence of social relationships on people’s perceptions, behavior and decision making to enroll in the National Health Insurance Scheme. This social scheme, initiated in 2003, aims to realize accessible quality healthcare services for the entire population of Ghana. We look at relationships of trust and reciprocity between individuals in the communities (so called horizontal social capital) and between individuals and formal health institutions (called vertical social capital) in order to determine whether these two forms of social capital inhibit or facilitate enrolment of clients in the scheme. Results can support the NHIA in exploiting social capital to reach their objective and strengthen their policy and practice. METHOD: We conducted 20 individual- and seven key-informant interviews, 22 focus group discussions, two stakeholder meetings and a household survey, using a random sample of 1903 households from the catchment area of 64 primary healthcare facilities. The study took place in Greater Accra Region and Western Regions in Ghana between June 2011 and March 2012. RESULTS: While social developments and increased heterogeneity seem to reduce community solidarity in Ghana, social networks remain common in Ghana and are valued for their multiple benefits (i.e. reciprocal trust and support, information sharing, motivation, risk sharing). Trusting relations with healthcare and insurance providers are, according healthcare clients, based on providers’ clear communication, attitude, devotion, encouragement and reliability of services. Active membership of the NHIS is positive associated with community trust, trust in healthcare providers and trust in the NHIS (p-values are .009, .000 and .000 respectively). CONCLUSION: Social capital can motivate clients to enroll in health insurance. Fostering social capital through improving information provision to communities and engaging community groups in health care and NHIS services can facilitate peoples’ trust in these institutions and their active participation in the scheme

Acaricide resistance in the cattle tick, Amblyomma variegatum, in the coastal savanna zone of Ghana

Field strains of the cattle tick, Amblyomma variegatum, collected from 10 herds scattered in the western part of the coastal savanna zone of Ghana, were tested for resistance to acaricides, according to the FAO Acaricide Test kit. Discriminating doses were obtained from tests with a reference susceptible strain of Boophilus microplus. The LC50 values, where possible, were derived from fitted lines for graphs of mortality rates versus acaricide concentration for the various herds. Tick larvae from all the herds were completely susceptible to cypermethrin (0.025, 0.05, 0.10, 0.20, 0.40, and 0.80 %) and flumethrin (0.003, 0.006, 0.012, 0.015, 0.03, 0.06, 0.12, 0.25, and 0.50 %). However, eight herds had significant proportions of tick larvae showing resistance to diazinon at 0.2 per cent concentration, while three herds showed resistance to 0.2 per cent dieldrin. At the discriminating dose of 0. 2 per cent coumaphos, none of the ticks from the herds tested showed resistance. The results indicate possible resistance of field strains of A. variegatum to organophosphates, toxaphene, and/or lindane. The implications of this finding are important, if tick control measures should be effective in the coastal savanna zone of Ghana. Ghana Jnl agric Sci. Vol.32(2) 1999: 199-20