ABSTRACT Mouldiness in stored cocoa beans in Ghana and the production of aflatoxin have been studied. Based on actual weight of discarded beans, mouldy beans have been estimated to constitute 0.13 % and 0.00002 % of marketable beans at the farm ers’ level and the buying agents’ depots respectively in the Tafo District. This is contrasted with an estimated value o f 0.16 % obtained in a questionnaire type study involving farmers. Estimated mouldy beans at the Tema port was 0.69 % per year...
Several infectious diseases have been found to be associated with transfusion o f whole blood or blood components. Reports from studies conducted in many African countries indicate a high incidence of blood-borne pathogens such as human T-lymphotropic virus type-I (HTLV-I) among healthy blood donors. Experimental data indicate that a r. ajor route for transmission o f the HTLV-I is through blood transfusion. The prevalence o f HTLV-I antibodies among blood donors in Ghana is not well document...
Abstract: Endophytes demonstrate great potential sources for new bio active compounds. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to assess biological activities including antioxidant and antimicrobial potentials of endophytic fungal extracts from coriander leaves and seeds. The samples were surface sterilized before used as endophytic fungal culture. The result of macroscopic and microscopic characterization of the fungal isolates demonstrated the presence of three genera of endophytic fun...
ABSTRACT Coprophilous fungi are abundant species found in dung of most wild animals, and an easily available and abundant tool for studying and monitoring ecosystem changes. The focus of this study was to characterize two genera of coprophilous fungi, Pilobolus and Ascobolus. These fungi are important in decomposing and recycling of nutrients from animal waste. Ascobolus fungi are important in genetic studies and have been identified as a source of enzymes and antibiotics. Pilobolus fungi pl...
Abstract The aim of this study was to identify the occurrence of fungal contamination in different samples of corn (zea mayes) grains in Narok Town. A total of 30 samples were analyzed by direct plating method on a quarter strength potato dextrose agar and focusing on mycotoxigenic fungi.pure cultures of Aspergillus isolates were sub cultured and transferred onto differential media; malt extract agar, czapek yeast extract and czapek dox agar for species identification. The colony were purifie...
ABSTRACT Background: Military personnel are high-risk people for parenteral and sexually transmitted diseases such as hepatitis B virus (HBV). Hepatitis B is one of the most common infectious diseases globally. The burden of Chronic Hepatitis B infection in the Ghana Armed Forces is not known. As part of the Ghana Armed Forces Hepatitis Programme, the Forces Liver Health Protection (FLiHP) Project is implementing interventions aimed at reducing the estimated burden of viral hepatitis by 50% b...
ABSTRACT Background: Military personnel are high-risk people for parenteral and sexually transmitted diseases such as hepatitis B virus (HBV). Hepatitis B is one of the most common infectious diseases globally. The burden of Chronic Hepatitis B infection in the Ghana Armed Forces is not known. As part of the Ghana Armed Forces Hepatitis Programme, the Forces Liver Health Protection (FLiHP) Project is implementing interventions aimed at reducing the estimated burden of viral hepatitis by 50% b...
ABSTRACT Introduction: Malaria and typhoid fever cause major health problems especially in low and middle income countries. People in endemic areas are at risk of developing both infections concomitantly. These study was conducted to provide an epidemiological data on co-infection of malaria and typhoid fever in Ga West Municipality Hospital. Methods: A cross-sectional study involving one hundred and fifty seven (157) febrile patients attending Ga West Municipal Hospital, Amasaman from Februa...
ABSTRACT Background: Hepatitis B disease is a major threat to public health and its chronic carriers constitute about 5% of the world’s population. Some regions of Africa and the Middle East have a disproportionately higher carrier rate of 10% and 15% respectively. The risk of developing chronic hepatitis B is 95% for infections acquired during the perinatal period compared with 5% for those who acquired during adulthood and a pooled prevalence of hepatitis B infection among pregnant women...
Abstract: Aphids vector many plant viruses in a non-persistent manner i.e., virus particles bind loosely to the insect mouthparts (stylet). This means that acquisition of virus particles from infected plants, and inoculation of un infected plants by viruliferous aphids, are rapid processes that require only brief probes of the plant’s epidermal cells. Virus infection alters plant biochemistry, which causes changes in emission of volatile organic compounds and altered accumulation of nutrie...
ABSTRACT Schistosomiasis, also known as bilharziases is a parasitic disease caused by blood flukes (trematodes) of the genus Schistosoma. Both urinary schistosomiasis caused by Schistosoma haematobium and intestinal schistosomiasis caused by S. mansoni occur in various regions of Kenya, including the coastal region. River Tana which flows through Garsen, offer breeding sites for Bulinus snails which are the fresh water snail vectors for S. haematobium. Despite the WHO recommending the strateg...
ABSTRACT The synergistic relationship between HIV/AIDS and respiratory infections, such as tu- berculosis(TB) and pneumonia not only results in high mortality rates but is also a source of economic burden borne by many nations in the sub-saharan Africa. The search for a cure or vaccine for HIV/AIDS has yielded no conclusive results so far. Treatment fail- ure and lack of adherence to treatment schedule which results in the evolution of drug resistant strains of diseases are challenges to grap...
ABSTRACT The Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is one of the most important emerging infections of this century. The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection causes the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) which is a systemic disorder characterized by deficiency in cellular immune responses. Haematological complications that accompanied HIV infections have been documented to be the second most common causes of morbidity and mortality in children. The haematological compli...
Abstract Utilization of herbal products is a major concern due to the possibility of contamination by toxigenic fungi that are mycotoxin producers such as Aspergillus species during processing and packaging. Research was carried out to determine the presence of aflatoxins and fumonisins in herbal medicinal products sold in Eldoret and Mombasa towns in Kenya. The study employed both exploratory and laboratory experimental design. The herbal products were purchased from the market and transpor...
Abstract: Antioxidant and antimicrobial properties are the biological activity of natural compoundsisolated from medicinal plants that are rich source of novel drugs. Endophytic fungi are a potential source of novel bioactive compounds. The present study investigates antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of endophytic fungi from fennel (Insilali) seeds and leaves. The antioxidant activity was conducted based on determination of phenolic content, 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl and hydrogen...