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Commercial poultry farms (n° 523), located in all the six regions of Nigeria were sampled with a view to generate baseline information about the distribution of Salmonella serovars in this country. Five different matrices (litter, dust, faeces, feed and water) were collected from each visited farm. Salmonella was isolated from at least one of the five matrices in 228 farms, with a farm prevalence of 43.6% (CI95[39.7–48.3%]). Altogether, 370 of 2615 samples collected (14.1%, CI95[12.8; 15.5%]) contained Salmonella. Considering the number of positive farms and the number of positive samples, it was evident that for the majority of the sampled farms, few samples were positive for Salmonella. With regard to the matrices, there was no difference in Salmonella prevalence among the five matrices considered. Of the 370 isolates serotyped, eighty-two different serotypes were identified and Salmonella Kentucky was identified as having the highest isolation rate in all the matrices sampled (16.2%), followed by S. Poona and S. Elisabethville. S. Kentucky was distributed across the country, whereas the other less frequent serovars had a more circumscribed diffusion. This is one of few comprehensive studies on the occurrence and distribution of Salmonella in commercial chicken layer farms from all the six regions of Nigeria. The relatively high prevalence rate documented in this study may be attributed to the generally poor infrastructure and low biosecurity measures in controlling stray animals, rodents and humans. Data collected could be valuable for instituting effective intervention strategies for Salmonella control in Nigeria and also in other developing countries with a similar poultry industry structure, with the final aim of reducing Salmonella spread in animals and ultimately in humans.

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The high numbers of mixed rotavirus infections highlight the multitude of enteric pathogens to which children in African countries are exposed. Data on circulating rotavirus strains serve to inform African government officials to the serious health threat posed by rotavirus in their respective countries and to document the diversity of strains before vaccine introduction.

Dog population dynamics have a major impact upon the effectiveness of rabies control strategies. As such, understanding domestic dog ecology has been recognized as central to the design of effective rabies control programmes. This study was conducted to determine the dog ecology in Lagos State using compound dog count and street dog count in the three senatorial districts (Lagos West, East and Central) of Lagos State from February, 2011 to January, 2012. A total of 546 questionnaires were distributed for the compound dog count and all were completed and returned. Various aspects of dog ecology were determined, including size, sex, breed of the dog population, management of dogs and rabies awareness among the respondents. Out of the 546 compounds surveyed, 518 (94.87%) owned at least one dog. A total of 1,427 dogs were counted from the street counts while a total of 1,447 dogs (2.8 dogs/compound) were counted from the compound count. The dogs comprised of 583 males and 864 females, out of which 64.10% are confined. The dog vaccination coverage in the dog population surveyed was 64.10% and administered majorly (91.30%) by veterinarians. Security (60%) and pets (26%) were the major reasons for keeping dogs. Majority (88.80%) of the respondents were aware of rabies and its mode of transmission, but still believed in the use of concoctions (40.40%), herbs (19.90%) and consumption of the organ of the offending dog (11.50%) for the treatment of rabies. The findings of this study showed a male: female ratio of dog to be 1:1.5 and a dog: human ratio of 1:5.6. There was also a responsible dog ownership as majority of the respondents do confine, vaccinate and provide food for their dogs. Vaccination coverage of the total dog population was however below the 70-80% target recommended by the World Health Organization to achieve herd immunity.