ABSTRACT Bats are nocturnal mammals found everywhere except in the Antarctica and Arctic regions. They are important for the maintenance of the ecosystem in terms of pollination and seed dispersal, particularly in tropical regions, as well as in controlling insect populations that would otherwise be pests. Bats have been reported as reservoir hosts for several pathogens including viruses such as Ebola, Nipah, Hendra and Lyssa. The purpose of the study was to document the parasites that infes...
ABSTRACT The important role of antibody-mediated mechanisms in protection from clinical malaria has been demonstrated by passive transfer experiments but the targets of protective immunity are not clearly defined. A number of antigens are however in various stages of testing as possible vaccine candidates. Polymorphism in these antigens, which has been reported to be an immune evasion mechanism, has hampered the development of these antigens as vaccines since antibody responses against one a...
ABSTRACT The environment harbours many bacterial species, some of which include non-tuberculous mycobacteria which have recently become important in public health. Isolation of mycobacteria from the environment has not been easy because of the presence of other fast growing bacteria and fungi. For isolation of mycobacteria from the environment, decontamination methods that minimize contamination but maximize recovery of mycobacteria are needed. This study sought to compare three decontaminat...
ABSTRACT Interventions adopted for the eradication of dracunculiasis in Borno State were evaluated between July 2003 and June 2004 to assess the feasibility of the 2009 target date set for the eradication of guinea worm. Data on cases in Nigeria; North east zone, and Borno State from 1995 - 2007 were obtained from Nigeria Guinea Worm Eradication Programme. Primary data on the cases occurring during the 2003/2004 were obtained through active surveillance. The various intervention strategies...
ABSTRACT Sericulture (Silk farming) is the rearing of silk moths for the production of raw silk. Silk farming originated from China where it was secretly practiced for many years before spreading to other parts of the world. Silk moths are grouped into mulberry silk moths (domesticated) and wild silk moths. Silk moth cocoon has a double filament made of insoluble protein known as fibroin which is embedded in a water soluble protein called sericin. Prior to processing cocoons, are boiled in s...
ABSTRACT Marine pollution is increasingly becoming a problem along the Kenyan coast. ' I Heavy metals and organochlorine pollutants have the potential to damage the delicate marine ecosystem with the result that the country's important foreign exchange earner - tourism - could seriously be affected. This study aimed at assessing the levels of cadmium, lead, copper, zinc, manganese, iron and titanium using Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescene (EDXRF) and Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) in...
ABSTRACT Parasites play an important role in ecosystems including shaping the populations and communities of their hosts. Majority of arthropod parasites transmit vector-borne zoonotic diseases, some of which are transmissible to humans and livestock. Birds are a host to a variety of arthropod parasites. Despite their importance, parasites continue being excluded in most ecological inventories. For example, the diversity of avian fauna in Kenya is fairly well known yet little is known about t...
ABSTRACT The biosafety of commonly used domestic grinding techniques was investigated; the effects of attrition mills using new (attrition mill 1) and old (attrition mill 2) plates, wooden mortar and pestle, grinding stone and electric blender on iron content of wetground staple foods, Vigna unguiculata (cowpea) and Capsicum frutescens (pepper) were examined in this study. Attrition mill 1 was in use 4 weeks prior to this study while the attrition mill 2 had newly installed grinding plate....
ABSTRACT The development of resistance to insecticides by Anopheles mosquitoes continues to threaten the success of malaria control programmes in West Africa. Local data on mechanisms and factors causing resistance in the region are scanty. This study was designed to investigate the environmental factors and mechanisms implicated in resistance to pyrethroids by Anopheles gambiae in southwestern Nigeria and southern Benin Republic. Larvae of Anopheles mosquito were collected in 2007 from 19...
ABSTRACT Poecilia reticulata (guppy) a common ornamental tropical fish is found in many wastewater drains in Nigeria. Guppies feed on copepods which are intermediate hosts of some nematode parasites of culturable fish species. The restriction on the importation of ornamental fishes into Nigeria has enhanced the demand for local species, usually sourced from the wild. There is dearth of information on the parasites of ornamental fishes in Nigeria. This study was aimed at determining prevale...
ABSTRACT The aquatic weeds on the Westlake wetland at Zandvlei (Cape Town, South Africa) were investigated in terms of their detrimental effects, and the biotic and abiotic conditions associated with their nuisance growth. Eichhornia crassipes was the most problematic of the weeds, both from a human perspective and in its effect on the system, and it appears to out-compete the initially more abundant Ceratophyllum demersum and Azolla filiculoides after disturbances such as clearing and floo...
ABSTRACT Aspects of the feeding strategies and digestive invertebrate-microbial interactions of two saltmarsh thalassinid detritivores, the mudprawn Upogebia africana (Ortmann) and the sandprawn Callianassa kraussi Stebbing were examined. Resources available in their respective habitats were investigated together with the feeding apparatus, diet and digestive enzymes necessary for hydrolysis of refractory compounds of detritus. U. africana inhabits the upper reaches of Langebaan lagoon (Geel...
Summary This short report describes the results of a rapid; simple and cost effective immuno diagnostic test for malaria in Ibadan, Nigeria. A total of 77% patients presenting at the children outpatient clinic, University College Hospital with malaria symptoms were screened for malaria parasites by microscopy using Giemsa stain and by the immuno chromatographic card test. The immunodiagnostic test had a sensitivity of 93.1 % and a specificity of 95.8%, making a gog,d alternative for malaria ...
ABSTRACT The development of resistance to insecticides by Anopheles mosquitoes continues to threaten the success of malaria control programmes in West Africa. Local data on mechanisms and factors causing resistance in the region are scanty. This study was designed to investigate the environmental factors and mechanisms implicated in resistance to pyrethroids by Anopheles gambiae in southwestern Nigeria and southern Benin Republic. Larvae of Anopheles mosquito were collected in 2007 from...