Assessment of veterinary drug retail outlets in two rural areas of Kwara state, north-central Nigeria

Meeting the challenges of sustainable growth in livestock production in sub-Saharan Africa requires significant improvements in animal health with adequate access to veterinary services. Since the 1980s, veterinary services in developing countries including Nigeria has witnessed a decline in government involvement and is currently almost private sector driven. Veterinary retail shops have emerged as important players in the provision of animal health services. However, diseases such as helminthiasis continue to occur with a high proportion in Nigerian livestock, despite the availability of veterinary drug retail outlets. A cross sectional survey was carried out in Tsaragi and Lafiagi rural areas of Kwara state, to asses the owners’, sales persons’ and business characteristics of veterinary retail outlets with the aid of structured questionnaire administered at interview and transect walk, carried out to appraise their capacities to provide adequate veterinary services. A total of 27 veterinary retail outlets made up of 13 agro-veterinary shops, 4 pharmacies, 4 general shops and 6 open market veterinary shops were interviewed. Majority of the veterinary shop owners and sales persons lacked professional qualification despite having an average of 10 years of experience retailing veterinary drugs. All respondents received veterinary drugs from wholesalers. Albendazole was the only type of anthelminthic stocked by the shops. Veterinarians and Animal Health Workers were the most important source of information about veterinary drugs. Dosage and drug dispensing of recommended quantities based on animal body weight was the greatest challenge in the sale of veterinary drugs. This study concludes that there is an urgent need for involvement of Veterinarians in the veterinary drug chain and the need to consider training and certification of Animal Health Workers in the veterinary pharmaceutical industry in Nigeria.Keywords: Agro-vet, Livestock, Veterinary shops, Veterinarian, Veterinary services, Livestock developmen

Comparative Analysis of Tick-Borne Relapsing Fever Spirochaetes from Ethiopia and Nigeria

Despite increasing reports of tick-borne diseases in Africa, remarkably, reports of tick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF) in Nigeria are lacking. Ornithodoros savignyi from Nigeria have been reported with the relapsing fever Candidatus Borrelia kalaharica. Conversely, in Ethiopia, the agent of relapsing fever is the louse-borne relapsing fever (LBRF) spirochaete Borrelia recurrentis with no TBRF reported to occur. A total of 389 Ornithodoros ticks, Ethiopia (N = 312) and Nigeria (N = 77), were sampled, together with 350 cattle, and 200 goat sera were collected from Nigeria. Samples were screened for Borrelia spp. by RT-PCR. Reactive samples were confirmed, then sequenced using flagellin B, 16S rRNA, and 16S–23S intergenic spacer region. The prevalence of Borrelia spp. in livestock was 3.8% (21/550) and 14% (3/21) after final molecular confirmation. Of 312 ticks from Ethiopia, 3.5% (11/312) were positive for Borrelia, with 36% (4/11) by conventional PCR. Sequencing revealed that the borreliae in soft ticks was C. B. kalaharica, whilst that found in animals was Borrelia theileri. Soft ticks were confirmed by sequencing 7% (22/312) and 12% (9/77) of the Ethiopian and Nigerian ticks, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that these were Ornithodoros savignyi. This is the first evidence of C. B. kalaharica in Ethiopia and demonstrates the co-existence of TBRF in a country endemic to LBRF. Important, this might cause a diagnostic challenge given that LBRF is predominantly diagnosed by microscopy, which cannot differentiate these two spirochaetes. Furthermore, we report B. theileri in ruminants in Nigeria, which may also be of veterinary and economic importance

Serospatial epidemiology of zoonotic Coxiella burnetii in a cross section of cattle and small ruminants in northern Nigeria

The persistent and highly transmissible Coxiella burnetii is a neglected infection that negatively affects reproductive parameters of livestock. It is also of zoonotic importance and has been reported to cause devastating human infections globally. Domestic ruminants represent the most frequent source of human infection. Data from Nigeria are very few and outdated. There is a significant gap in up-to-date information on the exposure, spatial distribution and risk factors of infection of this important disease. The exposure to C. burnetii was determined using sensitive serological assays in cattle and small ruminants. A total of 538 animals made up of 268 cattle and 270 small ruminants were sampled from three northern Nigerian states. The proportion of cattle sampled that were seropositive from the study locations were: Kwara 14/90 (15.6%; 95% CI: 8.8–24.7); Plateau 10/106 (9.43%; 95% CI: 4.6–16.7) and Borno 4/72 (5.56%; 95% CI: 1.5–13.6) states. Lower seroprevalence was recorded among the small ruminants sampled, with positives recorded from sheep and goat sampled from only Kwara state 6/184 (3.3%; 95% CI: 1.2–7.0); while none of the small ruminants sampled from Plateau were seropositive. The results of the bivariate analysis showed that none of the tested independent variables (village, age group, sex, breed of cattle, presence of ticks, reproductive status, and management system) were statistically significant factors associated with seropositivity of cattle for antibodies to C. burnetii. Stakeholders involved in animal husbandry should be duly educated on proper disposal of birth products as well as bodily fluids in order to reduce environmental contamination, persistence and human infection

The COVID-19 pandemic and health workforce brain drain in Nigeria

Over the years, the Nigerian healthcare workforce, including doctors, nurses, and pharmacists have always been known to emigrate to developed countries to practice. However, the recent dramatic increase in this trend is worrisome. There has been a mass emigration of Nigerian healthcare workers to developed countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the push factors have been found to include the inadequate provision of personal protective equipment, low monthly hazard allowance, and inconsistent payment of COVID-19 inducement allowance on top of worsening insecurity, the pull factors are higher salaries as well as a safe and healthy working environment. We also discuss how healthcare workers can be retained in Nigeria through increment in remunerations and prompt payment of allowances, and how the brain drain can be turned into a brain gain via the use of electronic data collection tools for Nigerian health workers abroad, implementation of the Bhagwati’s tax system, and establishment of a global skill partnership with developed countries

First report of Theileria annulata in Nigeria : findings from cattle ticks in Zamfara and Sokoto States

Background: Ticks and tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) represent a significant economic burden to cattle farming in sub-Saharan Africa including Nigeria. However, in the northern part of this country, where the largest livestock population resides, little is known about the contemporary diversity of ticks and TBPs. This area is particularly vulnerable to climate change, undergoing marked transformation of habitat and associated flora and fauna that is also likely to include ticks. This study aimed to document the occurrence of tick species and Apicomplexan TBPs in cattle from north-western Nigeria. Methods: In 2017, ticks were collected from cattle in Zamfara and Sokoto States and identified morphologically. Additionally, a subset of ticks was screened molecularly for the detection of apicomplexan DNA. Results: A total of 494 adult ticks were collected from 80 cattle in Zamfara and 65 cattle in Sokoto State. Nine tick species were encountered, among which the presence of one, Hyalomma turanicum, had not previously been recorded in Nigeria. Hyalomma rufipes was the most prevalent tick infesting cattle in Zamfara State (76%), while Hyalomma dromedarii was the most prevalent in Sokoto State (44%), confirming the widespread transfer of this species from camels onto livestock and its adaptation to cattle in the region. Of 159 ticks screened, 2 out of 54 (3.7%) from Zamfara State and 29 out of 105 (27.6%) from Sokoto State harboured DNA of Theileria annulata, the agent of tropical theileriosis. Conclusions: This study confirms the presence of a broad diversity of tick species in cattle from north-western Nigeria, providing the first locality records for Zamfara State. The occurrence of H. turanicum indicates a distribution of this tick beyond northern Africa. This study provides the first report for T. annulata in Nigerian ticks. Given its enormous burden on livestock farming in north Africa and across Asia, further investigations are needed to better understand its epidemiology, vector transmission and potential clinical significance in cattle from northern Nigeria and neighbouring Sahelian countries

Histologic developmental horizons of the prenatal dromedary tongue

We present a study on the histologic developmental horizons of the dromedary tongue using abattoir samples. The 13 month dromedary gestation period was divided into four quarters, giving the  dromedary four prenatal growth phases. Feotuses were recovered from slaughtered camels and 1 cm2 samples were cut from dorsum and lateral parts of the apex, body and base of tongues of associated foetuses in each growth phase for histological analysis. The dorsal and lateral parts of the apex of the tongue showed variable sizes of underdeveloped filiform and fungiform papillae formed from the  folding of non - keratinized stratified squamous epithelium. The filiform papillae were interspersed with fungiform papillae. A brief glandless propria-submucosa of vascularized connective tissue was  continuous with their lamina epithelialis. The muscularis showed vertical, longitudinal and transverse (X, Y, Z) directions of skeletal muscles. Same arrangement was found at the lingual body. Under- developed lentiform papillae extended from the terminus of the caudal aspect of the lingual body to  the rostral aspect of the lingual base. The lingual base showed underdeveloped fungiform and vallate papillae. The lingual body and base were highly muscularized. The muscularity became more obvious  at the second and third quarters. Unique to the third phase was apical keratinization of filiform  papillae,  marking its full development. The propria-submucosa was highly vascularized. The fourth  growth phase marked the stage for full development of most of parts of the tongue except the mucosa  of the lingual base, where taste buds were not observed in gustatory papillae, eventhough an  earlier study had observed taste buds in gustatory papillae of the adult dromedary. It was  concluded that most of the salient features of the postnatal dromedary tongue, such as gustatory and non-gustatory papillae, were already evident as early as the first growth phase.Keywords: Dromedary, Foetus, Histology, Prenatal development, Tongu

Gross morphology and morphometry of foetal and adult dromedary tongues

Gross morphology and morphometry of apparently normal tongues of forty antenatal and ten adult dromedaries (Camelus dromedarius) of both sexes, procured from the Maiduguri Metropolitan abattoir, were studied. This was with the aim of documenting information on these aspects. The thirteen months dromedary gestation period was divided into four quarters for the purpose of the foetal tongue  morphometric study, with ten foetuses per quarter. The prenatal and postnatal tongues were grossly  observed to be flat apically and oval basally. They were highly flexible, like other ruminants’ tongues, and relatively small to the overall sizes of the study animals. The highest lingual weight percentage of the  body weight of 0.39% was attained at the second prenatal growth phase of the dromedary while the least, 0.16%, was attained in the adult. The foetal tongues showed levels of significant increases in sizes and  weights throughout the prenatal growth phases. It was concluded that the dromedary tongue is similar to other ruminant tongues and most of the salient gross features, like gustatory and non-gustatory papillae,  of the dromedary tongue were already obvious as early as the first prenatal growth phase (2 – 3 months)  and the remaining three periods were associated with size increases. In the prenatal dromedary tongues  studied, the salient gross features of the tongue were fully evident right from the first quarter of gestation  (first three months of prenatal life), but were relatively small in size. Likewise; the mean dimensions and  the weights obtained in the present study, showed significant increments across the four-quarters  gestation. This is not unrelated with the structural developments of the overall body size and weights.Keywords: Adult, Dromedary, Foetus, Morphometry, Tongu