Overview of human and animal brucellosis in Nigeria and its economic impacts on production

Brucellosis is a wide spread zoonotic bacterial disease of humans and animals. In humans the disease is recognized commonly as undulant fever, characterized by headache malaise, and arthritis. Brucellosis can occur in any age group, but mainly found in young men between the ages of 20 and 40 years because of occupational hazards. Domestic animals (cattle, sheep and goat, pigs, dogs etc) are highly susceptible to brucellosis.  Generally, brucellosis manifest in female animals as abortion, retained placenta, stillbirth and death of young ones soon after birth. In males, the  main features are vesiculitis, orchitis, and epididymitis, which may render infected male infertile for life. The endemicity of brucellosis has remained  a threat in low- income countries of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia and has multiple economic implications across agriculture and public health  sectors, and broader implications on economic and social development sectors. Google and Google Scholar were used to retrieve articles used for  this review, which included published research articles and local, national and international reports on brucellosis. In this review, we summarised  human and animal brucellosis, prevalence of infections in Nigeria, and economic impacts on production. It is believed that this review will guide  researchers on the state of brucellosis in developing countries where the disease is still endemic, using Nigeria as a case study

Trypanocidal efficacy of diminazene in diabetic rats

The experiment was conducted to investigate the impact of hyperglycaemia on the trypanocidal efficacy of diminazene aceturate. Groups of alloxan-induced diabetic rats infected with T. brucei and T. congolense were treated with diminazene aceturate, and trypanocidal effects compared with normal non-diabetic controls. Results showed that the prepatent period was shorter in the diabetic (11.25±1.65 days) than non-diabetic-T. congolense (15.0±1.73 days), and also variations in responses to the trypanocidal therapy between the diabetic and non-diabetic groups were detected. Parasite clearance time did not differ significantly between the diabetic and non-diabetic (43.2±8.89 versus 52.8±8.89 hours in T. brucei and 33.6±5.9 versus 36.0±6.93 hours in T. congolense, respectively). The relapse intervals were shorter in the diabetic than non-diabetic (16 days versus 23 days in T. brucei, and 7 days versus 14 days in T. congolense, respectively). Proportion of relapses was greater in the diabetic- (100%) than non-diabetic-T. congolense (66.7%). We also find parasite species-related differences in susceptibility to the trypanocide, with a higher apparent cure rate in the T. brucei than T. congolense group. We conclude from the results of this study that the chemotherapeutic effectiveness of diminazene aceturate may be diminished in patients with diabete

Consumer Rights Paradigm: Development of the Construct in the Jordanian Context

Due to the lack of empirical measures of consumer rights in developing countries in particular, this research aimed to tackle this issue in the context of Jordan. The research adopted a triangulated methodology of initial inductive research work followed by a deductive research approach, implemented empirically. Data were collected from 660 consumers, using a mall intercept method. Multiple statistical techniques were employed for data analysis, using SPSS-23 and a structural equation model (AMOS-23). Three key findings emerged from the current research work. First, the results identified six fundamental consumer rights. These were: (1) right to safety; (2) right to be informed; (3) right to be heard; (4) right to choose; (5) right to privacy; and (6) right to redress. These rights were measured on 29 items, based on confirmatory factor analysis results. (Original list included 53 items.) Second, the status of perceived consumer rights in the study area was not very satisfactory, reflecting a public discontent due to poor consumerism. Third, no significant differences were noticed in consumers’ perception regarding their rights due to their demographic factors. In view of the overall findings, the current authors made several recommendations to both marketing practitioners and public policy makers to improve the quality of consumer rights in the study area. The main contribution of the current research was the development and validation of a measuring scale of consumer rights based on 29 measuring items, structured in six categories