Cities worldwide are experiencing rapid spatial growth and cities in the less developed countries are already accounting for more of this growth. If such rapid growth is unplanned and uncontrolled, it would have adverse effect on the environment and in most cases, vegetation is highly endangered. Such removal of vegetation cover causes great harm to the ecosystem and contributes greatly to the global warming effect. The aim of this paper is to analyze urban expansion and its impact on vegetation cover in Kaduna metropolis, Nigeria using geospatial techniques. Landsat MSS imagery of 1973, Landsat TM image obtained in 1990, Landsat ETM+ data of 2001 and Nigerian Sat-1 image (2009) were used. Visual interpretation method was used to sort the various datasets into land use/cover classes. The built-up area and vegetation cover were extracted and the rates of change were ascertained for each of the landcover types. ILWIS 3.3 software was used for the analysis. The results show that the built-up area increased from 14.3% in 1973 to 44.1% in 2009.
ObjectiveTo identify risk factors among contacts of Lassa fever cases which can predispose to disease spread and institute control measures.IntroductionContact tracing is an important strategy employed in surveillance to aid prompt detection of infectious disease and control outbreaks. It involves the identification of those who have come in contact with an infectious person and following them up for the duration of the incubation period of the disease to promptly detect symptoms and signs and institute treatment thus reducing chances of disease spread to other susceptible individuals. It is a primary means of disease prevention. The importance of cooperation from contacts being traced cannot be overemphasized as they are required to promptly report symptoms, avoid gatherings and travelling until they are cleared by the surveillance team. The follow-up should also link contacts who become symptomatic to designated care centers. In 2014, during the Ebola outbreak in Nigeria, the disease spread from Lagos to another State in the country by a contact who travelled out of Lagos to Rivers state.To identify risk factors among contacts of Lassa fever cases which can predispose to disease spread and institute control measures, we interviewed primary contacts of Lassa fever cases during an outbreak response in Kogi State Nigeria, 2016MethodsWe Identified contacts of Lassa fever cases (confirmed/suspected/probable) among family, friends, community members, co-workers and health care workers, followed up for 21 days during a Lassa fever outbreak which started in February 2016 at Kogi State Nigeria. Contacts were interviewed using a structured interviewer administered questionnaire with sections on demography, risk factors for infection and spread of Lassa fever, symptoms developed during the follow-up period and adherence to prorocol. Control measures were instituted to address identified gaps. We defined a contact as anyone irrespective of age, occupation or sex who came in contact with any of the cases of Lassa fever classified as either confirmed/suspected/probable and used standard IDSR case definitions for Suspected, Confirmed and Probable cases of Lassa fever. Data was analysed with Epi Info version 7ResultsOverall 149 contacts were interviewed, 79 (53.0%) were female, the mean age of respondents was 33.2 +-10.1 and many were health care workers 61(40.9%). Of the respondents, 18 (12.0%) live or work in areas infested with rodents, 21 (14.1%) ate bush meat, 2 (2.5%) of the females were pregnant and 20 (13.4%) of respondents travelled out of station with 1 (5%) contact crossing international borders. During the follow-up period, 14 (9.4%) developed symptoms suggestive of Lassa fever. Of these 12 (85.7%) sought treatment and the options were self-medication 3 (25.0%) and presenting at a health facility 9 (77.8%). The health facilities visited were mainly privately owned 7(77.9%) and only 1 (11.1) was a tertiary health care facility. We instituted the following interventions; Health education of contacts and linkage of symptomatic contacts to the designated treatment center where treatment commenced and samples were collected and sent to reference lab for diagnosis. All samples 14(100%) came back negative for Lassa fever.ConclusionsContact tracing is an important strategy in controlling outbreaks of infectious diseases. However, risk factors identified among contacts can hinder the effectiveness of this strategy and facilitate spread of the disease. We recommend training on health education and Lassa fever transmission for contacts of cases and the need to adhere to protocol so that the ultimate aim of interrupting transmission can be achieved.ReferencesNigeria Center for Disease Control.Viral Haemorrhagic Fevers,Preparedness and Response Plan.2017
was used to import the references and to remove duplicate references. Descriptive analysis was conducted with Microsoft Excel Office.Results: A total of 449 articles were identified from the search strategy. 43 articles were assessed with full-text and 36 studies were finally selected for data extraction and analysis. Between 1954 and 2015, there were a total of 2,189 bats captured with dengue tested positive from eight different countries. They were Mexico,
Abstract:The recovering logged-over forest ecosystem increases the CO 2 efflux into the atmospheric carbon pool in response to environmental factors to changes in the soil temperature and moisture. These CO 2 outbursts can have a marked influence on the ecosystem carbon balance and thereby affect the atmospheric carbon pool. The study was conducted in the 10-year-old logged-over forest of Sungai Menyala forest, Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. The measurements of soil CO 2 efflux were conducted using the continuous open flow chamber technique connected to a multi gas-handling unit and infrared CO 2 /H 2 O gas analyser. The aim of this study was to determine the soil CO 2 efflux and the environmental variables and likewise the impact of environmental factors on soil CO 2 efflux. Post-hoc comparisons were made using the Tukey test (p < 0.05), and multiple linear regression to determine the impact of environmental factors on soil CO 2 efflux. Soil CO 2 efflux ranged from 100.22-553.40 mg m -2 h -1 with the highest efflux in the afternoon attributed to an increase in soil temperature and low moisture. A higher soil temperature and low moisture signify an influential factor as the forest is recovering from logging activity. Furthermore, the predictor environmental variables: SOC (soil organic carbon), TOC (total organic carbon), SMC (soil moisture content), Bulk Density, SOCstock (soil organic carbon stock), TAGB (total above ground carbon biomass), Below Ground Carbon Biomass, soil pH, Nitrogen to Carbon ratio account for the spatial and temporal variation in soil CO 2 efflux into the atmosphere. The analysis revealed a strong correlation between soil CO 2 efflux, changes soil properties and environmental factors with an R 2 more than 0.80 at p < 0.01. This is proven that logging activity accounts for the changes in environmental factors to influence soil CO 2 efflux rate within 10-years of logging and forest recovering.
The study provides comprehensive empirical information on the magnitude and characteristics of slums in New Karu District of Karu LGA in Nassarawa State. The proximity of New Karu to FCT, Abuja has made it a very important settlement and a gateway to the Capital of Nigeria. 5 of the 12 wards of New Karu were studied. Direct Field observation and interview were used to obtain information of the study area. This study used a systematic random sampling method using the interval of five (5) households. 500 questionnaires were administered to the selected household heads. The study revealed that the houses are built from mud (47%) wood (15%), Zinc (16%) and Brick/block (22%). Further probe revealed that 35% agreed that the rents are affordable while 65% disagreed. 13% of the houses do not have any form of toilet, thus the occupants defecate in the nearby open bushes. The result also revealed that 90% of the households are connected to public electricity and 10% are not. The survey further revealed that 45% of the respondents dump waste into the gutters around them houses and 55% dump at a common waste point. This study has shown that the basic social facilities needed to making life better do not exist in New Karu District. Therefore, Karu LGA and Nassarawa State Government should provide the infrastructures and facilities required to improve the well being of the residents of New Karu. The findings of this study confirmed that there exist high levels of inadequacies of infrastructure causes the environmental and living conditions.
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