Identification of fresh adult-stage parasites was used to study and determine the basic knowledge of local meat handlers on awareness and risk perception of parasites they are conversant with in Ipata abattoir, Ilorin. The prevalence of these parasites found in fresh slaughtered food animals include Fasciola gigantica (11.24%) , Paramphistomum cervi (12.16%), Moniezia expansa (2.76%), Moniezia benedeni (3.86%), Haemonchus placei (10.19%), Haemonchus contortus (4.93%), Ascaris vitulorum (2.54%), Strongyloides papillosus (0.36%), Dictyocaulusfilaria (0.07%), Dictyocaulus viviparous (0.09%), Trichuris ovis (0.07%), Trichuris globulosa (0.09%), Dicrocoelium hospes (0.26%) and Dicrocoelium dendriticum (0.15%).The overall prevalence is 36.04%, and the 'importance index' of parasites across the species shows significant difference of P<0.001. Apart from Fasciola gigantica with 16.24% perception, the overall risk perception of 1.91% indicated poor awareness and inability of health workers to convince the unskilled meat personnel. There is significant difference P<0.05 between adult-stage parasites prevalence and risk perception among local meat handlers.

The recent increase of parasitic diseases associated with wildlife tourism can be traced to human contact with wildlife and intense modification of wildlife habitat. The continental estimates of parasitic diseases among visited wildlife-tourists and mammalian wildlife present in conservation areas are lacking; therefore, a general review was necessary to provide insights into Africa's parasitic disease burden and transmission between humans and wildlife. A two-step analysis was conducted with searches in Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed, Web of Science and Global Health. All diseases reported without prevalence were grouped and analysed as categorical data while meta-analysis of prevalence rates of parasitic diseases in wildlife from national parks and reserves in Africa was conducted. Only 4.7% of the tourist centres reported routine wildlife diagnosis for parasitic diseases. Disease intensity shows that cryptosporidiosis and seven other parasitic diseases were observed in both human and wildlife; however, no significant difference in intensity between human and wildlife hosts was observed. Schistosomiasis intensity reports showed a significant increase (P < 0.05) while entamoebiasis showed a significant decrease (P < 0.05) in humans as compared to wildlife. Visiting tourists were more infected with malaria, while wildlife was more infected with parasitic gastroenteritis (PGE). The meta-analysis of wildlife revealed the highest prevalence of PGE with mixed parasites and lowest prevalence of Giardia spp. at 99.9 and 5.7%, respectively. The zoonotic and socioeconomic impact of some of these parasites could pose a severe public threat to tourism. Pre- and post-travel clinical examinations are important for tourists while routine examination, treatment and rational surveillance are important for these animals to improve wildlife tourism.

The study investigated the prevalence and distribution of dermatophytes among domestic horses in Kwara state, Nigeria. A total of 91 samples were collected which comprised of skin scrapings and hair from both infected and asymptomatic animals. The highest dermatophyte isolation rate per total samples collected from each of the 7 different Local Government Area (LGAs) was 25% for Ilorin-East. Statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) were observed in the number of dermatophyte isolates obtained from the seven different LGAs. Dermatophytic lesions were observed on four anatomical sites of the body of horses that were sampled. These sites were the limbs, tail, head and abdominal region with dermatophyte isolation rate per total samples collected being 18.7%, 16%, 15% and 10%, respectively. Out of 85 male horses sampled, 12 were positive, and out of the six female horses sampled, two were positive. However, there was no statistically significant difference (p ˃ 0.05) between the total dermatophytes isolated from male (14.1%) or female (33.3%) horses from the seven LGAs in Kwara state. Dermatophytes isolated include Trichophyton tonsurans, Trichophyton verrucosum, Trichophyton soudanense, M. gypseum, Microsporum persicolor, Microsporum equinum and Microsporum fulvum with Trichophyton tonsurans and Trichophyton soudanense being anthropophilic.

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Intussusception is the invagination of one segment of the intestine into the part of the tract that either precedes or follows in the gastrointestinal tract of different species of animals. This report describes a case of fatal multiple intestinal intussusceptions and torsion associated with non-degradable foreign body gastrointestinal obstruction in a captive lion (Panthera leo) in a zoo in Nigeria. Parenchymatous tissues were aseptically collected during necropsy for bacteriological isolation and histopathology. Also, intestinal fecal material was collected and sent for parasitological examination. The main lesions were gastroduodenal, duodeduodenal, duodejejunal and jejunojenunal intussusceptions and duodenal torsion. A non-degradable towel-like fabric foreign body obstruction along the pyloric antrum/canal region of the stomach down to the jejunum was found. Microscopic lesion included ischemic necrosis of inner circular and outer longitudinal smooth muscles of the intestine with necrosis of other layers and vascular congestion. Parasitological examination revealed presence of Babesia spp. in blood smear examined before the death of the lion. While Escherichia coli was isolated from the liver on MacConkey agar. A diagnosis of intussusception and torsion associated with non-degradable foreign body (fabric) gastrointestinal obstruction was made. This first case of ingestion of a non-degradable fabric foreign body leading to gastrointestinal obstruction in captive lion in Nigeria has brought about the need for vigilance of zoo authority to prevent a recurrence during crowd influx to the garden.

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Abstract. Babalola OJ, Jegede HO, Ogundro BN. 2020. Perceptions, attitudes, and outcomes of human-snake encounters: A retrospective study of an online discussion community in Nigeria. Asian J Ethnobiol 21: 1-9. The internet is a useful tool for obtaining data needed to study factors that hinder snake conservation especially in resource-limited settings. There is a paucity of peer-reviewed research on the use of online communities in the study of factors contributing to undesirable human-snake conflicts in Nigeria. A 12-month dataset (August 2016-July 2017) on human-snake encounters shared on Nairaland®- a popular online community forum in Nigeria - was retrieved and analyzed. Morphological characteristics observed in the snake photographs posted on the platform were used for species identification. A total of 203 human-snake encounters were recorded from 32/37 States of Nigeria. Men (n=133) reported more human-snake encounters than women (n =11) while “reporters of unspecified gender (n =59) accounted for the rest. Most postings were from the southern part of Nigeria with the highest number of postings from Lagos State (n =34). Of the 24 snake species reported in the study, the African Rock Python was the most encountered. The months of May to July recorded the highest number of snake species reported by the respondents. ‘Fear’ and ‘food’ were the major perceptions elicited by people during snake encounters. The outcome of human-snake conflicts resulted in snake deaths (n =182) irrespective of snake venomosity. Only 1.0% (n=2) of the snakes were protected from harm. This study revealed that data from online community forums are useful for retrospective studies of the perceptions and outcomes of human-snake encounters; the output of which policymakers and conservationists may find useful.