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A 6-year retrospective study (2000-2005) of animals slaughtered at the Zango abattoir in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria was carried out to determine disease conditions encountered in slaughtered animals. Records kept at the abattoir were analysed. A total of 69,307 cattle, 3,820 goats and 1,763 sheep were slaughtered for the period under study. Of the 69,307 cattle slaughtered for the period, 22,459 (32.41%) were males and 46,848 (67.59%) were females, while 1,763 sheep were slaughtered comprising of 506 (28.70%) males and 1,257 (71.30%) females, and 3,820 goats made up of 1,212 (31.73%) males and 2,608 (68.27%) were females. The major disease and/or pathological conditions were helminthosis (fascioliasis, haemonchosis and paramphistomosis) 16.20%, Streptothricosis 4.15%, Pericarditis 2.20%, liver cirrhosis 2.08%, abscesses 1.04%, pneumonia 0.14%, nephritis 0.05% and Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia, Tuberculosis and Nocardiosis 0.01% each. Out of the 15,075 infected organs, 13,314 (88.38%) were partially salvaged while 1,751 (11.6%) whole organs were condemned. A total of 1,239 pregnant cows, 221 pregnant ewes and 637 pregnant does were slaughtered, representing a foetal wastage of 2.65% for cattle, 17.58% for sheep and 24.43% for goats. The result of this study apart from serving as an indicator of field disease condition also demonstrates cases of serious losses in production due to slaughter of pregnant animals especially for sheep and goats.

Research findings on indigenous guinea fowl in Nigeria and the constraints on the local production are discussed. The most pressing problems include low hatchability, high mortality up to eight weeks, lack of reliable advice on veterinary and other problems and a shortage of sources of hatching eggs and young stock. In addition to early mortality, which may be as high as 60%, the characteristic timid, but very active, flighty and noisy temperament probably contributes to poor feed conversion efficiency through high energy output and feed wastage. Nigerian guinea fowl tend to be slow growing, weighing less than 1 kg at 8 weeks of age, and do not come into lay until about 1 year of age. Although monogamous in the wild, a sex ratio of 1:4 can give good fertility. Egg production is confined to the rainy season from April to October. Sex identification presents an enormous problem for most guinea fowl farmers. The nutrient requirements of native guinea fowl have not been established, making it impossible to be sure that balanced diets needed for optimum production are fed. The most important intestinal parasites are Eimeria sp., Ascaridia galli, Heterakis sp. and Capillaria caudiflata. The main external parasites are lice (Damalina sp. and Argus persicus).

A growing body of evidence demonstrates the importance of forests and wild animal-based foods for diets within tropical environments. However, deforestation and associated land-use changes can have competing effects on nutrition and food security as communities reorient from wild food use and subsistence-based agriculture to import/export markets. This research examines dietary differences and associated changes in food security during intermediate stages of deforestation and market integration in the agriculture-forest frontier of Cross River State, Nigeria. We used participant responses to mixed-methods interviews (n = 528) in six communities to measure individual dietary diversity, household food access, and short-term nutritional status, with specific attention to animal-based foods and the cultural and economic values attached to them, in two interior forest (n = 177) and four forest-edge (n = 351) communities. Multivariate analysis of dietary compositions revealed differences in food categories and types of meat consumed between forest environments. People in forest-edge communities reported consuming less bushmeat and dark green leafy vegetables, and more pulses, domestic meat, fish, eggs, dairy, other vegetables, sweets, condiments, and non-red palm oil compared to interior forest communities. Bushmeat was highly preferred and had more economic value than other animal-based foods, regardless of location. Forest-edge communities had fewer households involved in bushmeat related activities, and fewer hunters per household. However, traders in forest-edge communities sold a larger proportion of meat to people outside of the community than did traders in interior forest communities. Measures of nutrition and food security, but not wealth, improved in relation to dietary patterns in forest-edge communities compared to interior forest communities. Our results may reflect a "best of both worlds" scenario during the intermediate stages of deforestation and agricultural expansion near forested areas, where people have access to forest resources, increased ability to Friant et al.Food Security in the Agricultural-Forest Frontier capitalize on forest goods, and access to market goods as they become integrated into market economies. Understanding the dietary consequences of environmental change is important, as food-related experiences may shape the trajectories of livelihood practices and landscape changes in tropical forests of biodiversity significance.

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We hyposthesized that henna staining could provide an alternative to eosin when used as a counterstain to hematoxylin for understanding basic neurohistological principles. Therefore, this study was aimed at investigating the suitability of henna as counterstain to hematoxylin for the demonstration of the layer stratification and cellular distribution in the brain tissue. Henna stained nervous tissue by reacting with the basic elements in proteins via its amino groups. It stained the neuropil and connective tissue membranes brown and effectively outlined the perikarya of neurons with no visible nuclei demonstrating that it is an acidic dye. Henna as a counterstain to hematoxylin demonstrated reliability as a new neurohistological stain. It facilitated identification of cortical layer stratification and cellular distribution in brain tissue sections from Wistar rats. This was comparable to standard hematoxylin and eosin staining as morphological and morphometrical analyses of stained cells did not show significant differences in size or number. This study presents a method for staining with henna and demonstrates that although henna and eosin belong to different dye groups (anthraquinone and xanthenes, respectively) based on their chromophores, they share similar staining techniques and thus could be used interchangeably in neurohistology.

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