Abstract: Fruit production is one of the fastest growing sectors in Botswana. As one of the agricultural sectors, fruit production is very crucial as it contributes immensely towards income generation and employment opportunities, especially for vulnerable rural livelihoods. Despite all the benefits, one of the biggest hurdles in the fruit production industry is disease and insect pests. Chief among these insect pests is the Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) (Diptera: Tephritidae). Bactrocera dor...
Abstract: Botswana is a country which depends mainly on cereal agriculture, done mostly by rural farmers as their major income stream. However, lepidopteran stemborers are a major constraint in the rural farmers’ cultivation of cereal crops. Species diversity and distribution of these insects of economic concern is currently unknown in Botswana. Through a survey, I catalogued the diversity of stemborers, host plant interactions and their associated parasitoids across Botswana. A total of 1...
Abstract: Malaria is considered the main cause of morbidity and mortality in most countries of the sub- Saharan Africa. Though elimination of the disease is a priority in some African countries such as Botswana, there are bottlenecks that make it difficult to achieve such target. Factors associated with the environment and mosquito-vector capacity for disease transmission have contributions towards challenges affecting disease elimination. These are dynamics which have not been explored in t...
Abstract: There is presently insufficient information on the atmospheric microbial level in Botswana, the occurrence and diversity of airborne microbes in Botswana is not well understood. In addition, there is also growing concern in the global spread of antimicrobial resistant bacterial pathogens that continue to emerge and pose a huge challenge to human health. This study, being the first of its kind in the country was aimed at understanding the occurrence, distribution and relative divers...
Abstract: Water scarcity is one of the main challenges in sustainable development particularly in developing countries. The use of wastewater effluent for irrigation of crops is common in most water-stressed countries as this alleviates pressure on fresh water supply. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are regarded as hotspots for antibiotic resistance determinants; antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB), antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and mobile genetic elements (e.g. plasmids). These ant...
Abstract: Khadi is a traditional fermented alcoholic beverage popular in Botswana. There is little documented information about the brewing processes, the microorganisms responsible for fermentation as well as the safety despite its popularity in local markets. Such information is vital for production of a standardized beverage with a consistent quality to aid its entrance into the modern commercial markets. This thesis explored the brewing processes, microbiological quality and safety, as i...
Abstract: Dung beetles are coprophagous insects belonging to the families Scarabaeidae and Geotrupidae. They are a very important insects’ group, acting as significant ecosystem engineers through dung burial, decomposition, nutrient cycling, bioturbation and seed dispersal in natural and human managed systems. Despite these benefits, most essential ecosystem services are not economically quantified and as such, their roles as natural capital in natural and human managed systems have la...
This work was done as an academic research on the HPV disease and how it is spread, it preventions and cure. ABSTRACT HPV Infection may lead to bodily complications if it stays in the body longer above 2years. It may cause genital warts that turns into cancer gradually. The low level of HPV infection are not too risky and the individual mostly do not show signs of the infection and sometimes it can be un-notice by some individuals until after many months that the disease begin to lead to com...
ABSTRACT The effectiveness of cotton seed dextrose agar, groundnut seed dextrose agar and kernel dextrose agar in culturing fungi was studied by culturing fungi from yam rot (Dioscorea rotundata). The research demonstrated the choice of the isolated fungi to various media, and revealed that some of the isolated fungi showed the same occurrence in different media. Aspergillus flavus showed preference for kernel dextrose and groundnut seed dextrose agar than Sabouraud dextrose agar and cotton s...
Studies on incidence and effect of temperature and relative humidity on post-harvest rot of cocoyam (Colocasia esculenta) were conducted in Bolari, Pantami and Tudun Wada district headquarters in Gombe LGA of Gombe state, Nigeria. The aim was to determine the incidence and severity of post-harvest rot of cocoyam (Colocasia esculenta), to isolate and identify the fungi responsible for the rot, to determine the virulence of the pathogen and the effect of temperature and relative humidity on...
ABSTRACT Available information on medicinal plants indicates habitat loss and has heightened the need for more proactive conservation strategies. Conservation efforts in this direction resulted in an ecopharmacological survey in the West African sub-region by three countries (Nigeria, Ghana and Republic of Benin) to assess frequently used medicinal plants. The result of the socio-economic study based on utilization pattern regionally was used to produce a list of ten topmost frequently used a...
ABSTRACT Schistosoma haematobium infects school children in areas where the disease is endemic. This study was carried out to determine the reliability of IgG Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) as an immunodiagnostic tool, using whole antigen derived from Schistosoma eggs. Children of school going age living in Ipogun village, in south western Nigeria; a schistosomiasis endemic community; were used in this study. The sensitivity of the IgG ELISA in detecting positive cases was 68.0% an...
ABSTRACT Background & objectives: The challenge of malaria and efforts targeted at developing malaria vaccines triggered this study on the reactivity of IgG and its subclasses in the test serum specific to CSP. This work was directed at assessing the influence of age and gender on host humoral antibody against Plasmodium falciparum recombinant circumsporozoite antigen in Nigerian children. Methods: In all, 67 serum samples (>10,000 parasites/μl of blood) collected from malaria-infected chi...