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 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 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...
ABSTRACT. The study revealed that there was a quantitative recruitment in colonies of Amiternes evuncifer, whenever food was discovered by the scouting foragers. Discovered food stimulated the termites to accelerate their running speed, to and from the food source. Increased trail-laying activity, accelerated movement and carrying of food by the returning workers facilitated recruitment of other confederates from their nest. These activities equally directed the recruited termites to the food...
bstract The recovery towards a natural state of a restored Rhizophora mucronata mangrove ecosystem was investigated by assessing the sediment physical characteristics, densities, community composition and diversity of benthic macro-endofauna and meio-endofauna from a natural, a 10 years reforested, a 5 years reforested and a degraded (clear felled) mangrove ecosystem. The natural forest was used as a reference (baseline state) while the degraded site was to provide information on the effects ...
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 This study was on aspects of the biology of Apis mellifera adansonii (1758) (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Apoidea) with emphasis on honey and beeswax production. Apis mellifera adansonii was identified and its life cycle stages were studied including the effect of the age of its queen on rate of brood production. Effects of ambient temperature, relative humidity and sugar syrup on colonies of A. mellifera adansonii in both dry and wet seasons were studied. During this study, Galleria mollone...
ABSTRACT Lake Victoria witnessed mass extinction of native fish species that coincided with introductions of Lates niloticus and Oreochromis niloticus about five decades ago. Small populations of O. esculentus and O. variabilis that are locally extinct in L. Victoria are found in Lake Kanyaboli, a satellite lake of L. Victoria. L. Kanyaboli thus has potential to serve as a refugium where cichlid relics are protected from the invasive L. niloticus. However, the status and thus factors that may...
ABSTRACT Gastrointestinal infections, such as soil-transmitted helminths (STHs) and Salmonella typhi infection, are a major cause of morbidity and mortality globally. In rural areas of Kenya, 9.1 million people are at risk of STHs infection with Western Kenya having the highest burden of both STH and S. typhi infection. Siaya County is more prone to S. typhi and STHs infection with Ukwala hospital records estimating the burden of infection at 30%. Given that STHs cause intestinal ulcers that ...
ABSTRACT The population of black rhinoceros has declined in African range states since 1960s due to poaching and habitat loss. In Kenya the species population declined from an estimated 20,000 in 1970 to less than 500 animals by 1990. However, through increased security and translocation, Kenya has witnessed a modest increase in population of this critically endangered species. The current population size is 623. Kenya like other range countries conserves black rhinoceros sub-populations as a...
ABSTRACT The study focused on the Preventive aspects of malaria in pregnancy in Badagry Local Government Area, one of the 20 LGAs in Lagos State in Southwestern Nigeria. The objectives of the study were to determine the knowledge, attitude and practices of the community on malaria; determine the effectiveness of Intermittent Preventive Treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) using Sulfadoxine-pyremethamine (SP) [IPTp-SP] in the prevention of malaria; and ascertain the safety of SP during pregnancy by ...