Asymptomatic urinary tract infections (UTIs) of bacterial and parasitic origins occur in both males and females where bacteria and/or parasites are present in the urine, with the absence of clinical signs or symptoms in the host. Using microbiological methods, mid-stream urine collected from sixty (60) Redeemer's University students comprising apparently healthy 30 male and 30 female undergraduate students were examined. The samples were cultured on CLED and MacConkey agar. Bacteriuria was observed in 15 (25%) of the samples while there was no significant growth in 34 (56.7%), and no growth in 11 (18.3%). Prevalence of significant bacteriuria was higher in females 11 (73.3%) than males 4 (26.7%). The bacteria isolated were Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus spp, and Klebsiella spp. The isolates were resistant to amoxycillin, augumentin and cotrimoxazole but most were highly susceptible to ofloxacin. Schistosoma haematobium and Trichomonas vaginalis were the two asymptomatic UTI-causing parasites isolated from the samples used in this study. Out of the 30 males examined using the microscopy method, 1 (1.67%) had T. vaginalis while the females had higher prevalence of 2 (3.33%) out of 30 females examined. Out of the overall participants examined for S. haematobium eggs, 15 (25%) had Schistosomiasis in which the males had higher prevalence of 10 (33.33%) while the females had 5 (16.67%). These results are lower than those observed in similar rural communities in Nigeria possibly due to effective health education, availability of potable water, higher-than average income and hygienic practices on Redemption Camp,

Screening of natural spices for improving microbiological, nutritional and organoleptic qualities of the Zobo drink.

The evaluation of the effectiveness of storage as a point-of-use means for improving the bacteriological quality of drinking water was carried out using a completely randomized block design. Total plate and total coliform counts were enumerated for day 0 -10 samples using Nutrient Agar (NA) and multiple tube techniques respectively. Physicochemical analyses of water samples were carried out using standard procedures including titrimetric methods. Ten bacteria species including Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus, Citrobacter freundil, Salmonella typhymurium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Arizona spp., Proteus vulgaris, Enterobacter aerogenes were isolated from water samples obtained from borehole, well and sachet water samples in the study area. For day zero samples, it was found that the total bacteria counts ranged from 1.01x10 2 to 4.38 x10 2 CFU/mL for borehole, 0.57x10 2 to 2.13x10 2 CFU/mL for well and 0.54x10 2 to 0.92x10 2 CFU/mL for sachet water. A significant reduction in bacteria load was recorded for all samples from day 2 to day 7 when the water samples were monitored over a period of ten days. The results reveal that water storage for 2-7 days is a viable point-of-use method of household level drinking water disinfection.

This work was carried out in collaboration between both authors. Author FA designed the study, performed laboratory and statistical analyses, wrote the protocol and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. Author SA managed the sample collection and laboratory analyses of the study. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Using a completely randomized block design, the progression of microbial food spoilage and the microbiological and sensory qualities of steamed cowpea paste (moin-moin) seasoned with onion, garlic, nutmeg and cinnamon was investigated. The total plate count was enumerated at approximately four hour intervals using Mueller-Hinton and Sabroaud dextrose agar for bacteria and fungal spoilage organisms respectively. Sensory evaluation was carried out using a 9-point hedonic scale. Results revealed no statistically significant difference in the progression of microbial spoilage. Eight bacterial species were isolated from the treatment samples as follows: Bacillus nealsoni, B. megaterium, B. pumilus, B marinus, Salimicrobium halophilum and Micrococcus varians. While 7 (seven) isolated fungi from the treatment samples are Gonatobotrys spp, Alternaria spp, Gymnoascus spp, Acremonium spp, Geotrichum spp, Oidiodendrum spp and Cladosporium spp. Untreated control and samples treated with nutmeg were preserved for the longest period of 23 hours. The present results show that moin-moin would spoil within 24 hours if kept at ambient temperature. The widely accepted reports of in-vitro anti-microbial effect of the spices was not observed in-vivo. Further work is needed on increasing the shelf-life of moin-moin and other similar foods.