Recent Articles

Antibiotic resistance is considered as a major threat to therapeutics in this era. This resistance has occurred due to various actions that neglect the ethical use of antimicrobials and antibiotics ending up in the abuse of these drugs in clinical, veterinary or agricultural practices. As the number of resistant pathogens increase, more drugs are being produced to cope with the situation and many research methodologies have been carried out in search of an alternative antimicrobial to assuage the threat of antimicrobial resistance. Consequently, phage therapy was discovered and considered effective as well as an alternative way to control the problem of antimicrobial and antibiotic resistance. Bacteriophages are viruses that infect and lyse bacteria. They are commonly referred to as “phage”. They are obligate intracellular parasites that multiply inside bacteria by making use of some or all of the host biosynthetic machinery. The nucleic acids of phages often contain unusual or modified bases, which protect phage nucleic acid from nucleases that break down host nucleic acids during phage infection. Depending upon the phage, the nucleic acid can be either DNA or RNA but not both. Due to their unique characteristics they are considered more effective than other alternatives. Previous trials in the use of bacteriophages have proved that phage as therapeutics have the ability to target bacteria of certain strains or species, without any harmful effect on the rest of the bacterial microflora. Moreover, bacterial antibiotic resistance is not a barrier for phage therapy and they are more effective when combined with antibiotics. This paper briefly reviews the use of phage therapy as an effective alternative to mitigate the global anti microbial resistance problem we are currently battling.

Diet supplementation is an important aspect in aquaculture management especially in intensive or in semi-intensive fish culture. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of Allium sativum on growth performance of African catfish, Clarias gariepinus fries. Four experimental diets were formulated to include Allium sativum powder at 0% (control), 0.5%, 1.0%, and 3.0% as additives. All the four treatment diets were fed to African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) fries over a 70-day period. The result showed a similar (P>0.05) growth responses across the groups. However, the best growth response in body weight gain of 1.44 ± 0.07g, Specific Growth Rate (SGR) of 0.52 ± 0.03g and Feed conversion Ratio (FCR) of 5.60 ± 0.38 was obtained in fish fed 3.0% Allium sativum inclusion level while the best condition factor (K) was observed in fish fed 0.5 % Allium sativum inclusion level. Fish fed 0.0% Allium sativum had the lowest growth response of body weight gain, Specific Growth Rate (SGR), Feed conversion Ratio (FCR) and condition factor of 0.84 ± 0.11g, 0.36 ± 0.03g, 5.77 ± 0.53 and 0.80 ± 0.03 respectively. Garlic inclusion in fish diet at 3.0% (30g/kg) concentration is therefore beneficial for use in aquaculture to enhance growth promotion however a further research is recommended to investigate toxicity of this plant at varying inclusion levels of 0.5% to 3.0% in the Clarias gariepinus culturing to ascertain the best inclusion level.

Bovine herpes virus type 1 (BHV-1), the causative agent of infectious bovine rhinotracheitis, is a DNA virus. This pathogen is represents the most common viral pathogen found in cattle semen. The aim of the present study was to set up a of BHV-1 detection assay in bovine blood in Lorestan province using PCR assay. The blood samples of 285 cattle in Khoramabad, Azna, Aligoodarz, Borujerd and Poldokhtar were collected, total DNA was extracted and the region encoded the gI glycoprotein was amplified by PCR using specific primers. Out of 285 blood samples, 56 (19.64%) were positive for BHV-1 (468 bp). The highest and lowest frequencies of the bacterial infection were observed in Khoramabad and Borujerd cities with 21 and 12%, respectively. The results of this study demonstrated that PCR assay represent an excellent (suitable) alternative or additional tool for BHV-1 isolates detection. Finally the study revealed a high incidence of BHV-1 in the blood of Iranian cattle. Thus all cattle must be tested periodically for BHV-1 infection and antimicrobial drugs, to prevent BHV-1 occurrence in cattle must be used. The cattle must be free BHV-1 infection prior to use.

Contemporary literatures are awash with Heavy metal contamination in soils as a source of global environmental concern. Cultivation of crops on these contaminated soils may result in accumulation of heavy metals resulting in possible risks on human health. For this reason, a pot experiment was conducted between May and August 2016 at the green house of the Department of Forestry and Environmental Management, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike. The experiment was specifically aimed at evaluating the influence of kaoline mined soil samples on the growth of three herbaceous plant species (Chromolaena odorata, Ipomoea involucrata and Mariscus alternifolius) commonly found at abandoned kaolin mining site at Ohiya in Umuahia South East, Nigeria. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design with Six (6) replicates. Data were collected on Plant height, Number of leaves, fresh and dry weight. Data were analyzed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Mean separations were done using Fisher LSD at 0.05% probability. Two mean values were subjected to studentized-t-test using statistical analytical system (SAS) software, version 8.0. The result showed that the kaolin mined soil sample significantly affected all the growth parameters measured during the study.

Staphylococcus aureus is a gram positive bacterium that belongs to coagulase positive staphylococcus. It is widely distributed in the environment and causes diseases due to direct infection or due to the production of toxins by the bacteria. The prevalence of S. aureus ranges from 4% to 83% in different countries of the world from samples of food producing animals and their products. In Ethiopia the lowest and highest prevalence is reported as 4.2% and 48.75%, respectively. All mammals and birds are susceptible to colonization with S. aureus. Staphylococcus aureus can be treated with a wide range of antibiotics but there are efficient and inefficient antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance tests that have been conducted in different countries revealed that S. aureus were highly resistant to Ampicillin, Cloxacillin and Penicillin and less susceptible to Vancomycin and Rifampicin. The emergence of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus in animal and human has become a worldwide problem.

The precarious supply of animal products to Nigerian populace may worsen if livestock production is still based on the use of multipurpose indigenous cattle breeds with genetically low productive potentials. The main objective of this study was to determine the reproductive performance of Zebu cattle in an AI program in The Federal Polytechnic Mubi, Livestock Farm, Adamawa State, North-Eastern Nigeria. Twenty (20) female Zebu cattle comprising heifers and cows were selected at random from the cattle herds, February to March, 2016. The insemination was performed via recto-vaginal technique following estrus synchronization, using prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α). The results of the study showed animal age ranging from three (3) to ten (10) years old with parity from 0 to 5. The body condition scores of the animals vary from 2.0 to 2.5 indicating poor nutrition and management practices at the period. There was 100% estrus detection rate since all animals displayed signs of heat and were turned in for insemination. The findings showed a low success rate of 25% with higher failure rate of 75%. It was concluded that, Ayrshire and Brahman crossed Zebu female cattle through AI, though gave low fertility rates at the first attempt, is still the rapid means of improving milk production and reproductive efficiency of the combined adaptability and hardiness of the Zebu cattle (Bos indicus) with the genetically high reproductive and milk yield potentials of the exotic breeds (Bos taurus). There is still room for an in-depth future study of the effects of upgrading indigenous Zebu cattle crossed with exotic bulls to maximize production. This is important in realizing the goal of increasing the production and reproductive efficiency of the indigenous cross-bred cattle in the country. This would also ensure sustainable food security in the North-East and Nigeria as a whole.

[Background]Acetaminophen or Paracetamol is widely used as analgesic and antipyretic or antimalarial drug, but at high dose it leads to undesirable side effects, such as hepatotoxicity. [Objective]This present study demonstrates the in vivo hepatoprotective effect of Thaumatococcus daniellii against acetaminophen induced liver toxicity. [Methods] Acetaminophen- induced liver injury was evaluated by an increase in serum AST (or SGOT), ALT (or SGPT), ALP activity and bilirubin level accompanied by significant decrease in albumin level. [Results] Acetaminophen hepatoxicity was manifested by an increase in lipid peroxidation, depletion of reduced glutathione (GSH) and catalase activity in liver tissue. Oral administration of the plant extract protects the rats against acetaminophen induced liver injury by increased lipid peroxidation, restored altered serum marker enzymes and antioxidant level to normal liver morphology.[Conclusion]The results showed that T. daniellii leaf extract displayed significant liver healing efficacy against acetaminophen induced hepatotoxicity in rats. The result further affirm the use of the plant as an ethno-medicinal prescription for liver related injury.