Background: Blood transfusion saves life but it is also a major risk factor in the transmission of certain infections such as malaria, which remains a public health problem in tropical and sub-Saharan Africa. Methodology: This study investigated the prevalence of malaria among 550 blood donors aged 18 to 60 years from blood bank units of some selected hospitals in Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, using gold standard microscopy for malaria parasite detection. Results: Two hundred and fifty two (45.8%) donors were positive for malaria parasites. Replacement donors had higher prevalence rate of malaria compared to voluntary donors. The distribution of infection on the basis of age revealed the highest prevalence rate of malaria among the 20-29yrs age group. The rate of infection among the males and the females was not significantly different (p>0.05). No association was observed between the blood group types and the rate of malaria infection (p > 0.05). Conclusion: A high prevalence of malaria parasitaemia was observed among blood donors in FCT, Abuja, Nigeria in this study. The introduction of malaria screening as part of routine screening for blood donation and the provision of modern blood screening equipment within healthcare facilities are highly advocated.

Vegetables are edible part of plants. A total of twenty five raw salad vegetables were collected and the microbiological assessment was made using pour plate method. The analysis was carried out on carrots, cucumber, cabbage, lettuce and tomatoes. The results obtained from this study revealed that the total heterotrophic viable bacterial counts, coliform counts and fungal counts for all the salad vegetables ranged from 1.4 × 10 6 -6.2 × 10 6 cfu/g, 1.1 × 10 6 -3.3 × 10 6 cfu/g and 2.1 × 10 3 -4.5 × 10 5 cfu/g respectively. The data were subjected to One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test which showed that there was significant difference (p <0.05) in the microbial load of each of the raw salad vegetables samples. The microbial isolates identified were E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Klebsiella sp., Pseudomonas sp., Aspergillus niger, Mucor sp., Penicillium sp., Aspergillus flavus and Fusarium sp. Staphylococcus aureus and Aspergillus niger were predominant. This suggests that salad vegetables used in this study are of public health concern because, they harbours microorganisms that could be hazardous to human health. Hence consumers should practice appropriate hygiene during the preparation of salad for consumption.

Food borne disease associated with inappropriately treated or untreated eggs is a major public health problem affecting developing and developed countries. This study isolated, identified and determined the Antibiogram of bacteria isolates from eggshell of eggs obtained from three major markets in Minna, Nigeria. A total of ten (10) duplicate egg samples were purchased from egg retailers. The egg samples were analyzed for the enumeration and isolation of bacteria. The isolated bacteria were identified using biochemical methods. Antibiotic susceptibility test to prescribed commercially available antibiotic discs was also investigated. The total viable bacteria count (TVBC) ranged from 1.38×104 - 2.52×104 cfu/mL while the total coliform count (TCC) ranged from 8.5×103 - 2.02×104 cfu/mL. Escherichia coli (9.1%), Streptococcus pyogenes (4.5%), Enterococcus sp. (4.5%), Shigella sp. (13.6%), Salmonella sp. (13.6%), Staphylococcus aureus (36.4%), Clostridium sp. (9.1%) and Neisseria sp. (9.1%) were isolated and identified from eggshells. Gram positive bacteria showed highest sensitivity to gentamycin (100%) however, resist cloxacillin, ceftadizime and erythromycin (100%). Similarly, there was no ciprofloxacin resistant Gram-negative bacteria though E. coli, Salmonella sp. and Shigella sp. isolated from eggshells were resistant to augmentin and amoxicillin. Further analysis of result revealed that all the isolated bacteria from eggshells were multidrug resistant except Neisseria sp. with multidrug resistant index greater than 0.2. The fact that these antibiotic resistant bacteria can be transferred to humans is of public health concern. Therefore, stringent use of public health regulations for cleaning eggs before retailing is advocated.

This investigation was conducted to determine the in-vitro effect of aqueous, ethanol and methanol crude extracts of Euphorbia hirta at concentrations ranging from 10mg/ml-100mg/ml against three pathogenic bacteria (Streptococcus pneumoniae, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Proteus vulgaris) using cup plate method. The extracts showed appreciable inhibitory effect (6-11mm and 2-20mm) on Streptococcus pneumoniae and Proteus vulgaris when compared to the positive control (penicillin). Klebsiella pneumoniae was resistant to all the extracts. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was between 60mg/ml-80mg/ml on Streptococcus pneumoniae and 60mg/ml-100mg/ml on Proteus vulgaris. The minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) was between 90-100mg/ml on Streptococcus pneumoniae and 100mg/ml on Proteus vulgaris. Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of tannins, flavonoids, cardiac glycosides and volatile oils. The result from this preliminary study suggests that the plant contains active compounds that could be used for the development of drug for the treatment of ailments associated with the test organisms. More work needs to be done on the separation and purification of active compounds in the plant extract in order to determine the role of each compound in the crude extracts.

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