Introduction: Despite the efforts of governments and health organisations to eradicate malaria, it is still endemic in sub-Saharan Africa and this could be due to cost of antimalarial drugs, resistance to these drugs and climate change among others. Traditional medicine practitioners and scientists have started developing antimalarial drugs from medicinal plants among which is ARTAVOL®. ARTAVOL® is a herbal product that is used to prevent malaria in some communities in Uganda, however, its prophylactic effects on Plasmodium berghei infected mice has not been established yet. Methods: The infusion of ARTAVOL® powder was prepared, cooled, filtered, concentrated in vacuo at 55 0C and freeze-dried. The freeze-dried extract was reconstituted with distilled water for antimalarial using prophylactic model mice. Thirty-six mice were randomised into 6 groups of 6 mice each. Groups I to III mice were orally administered with the extract at 15 to 60 mg/kg/day while group IV received Pyrimethamine (1.25 mg/kg) while groups V and VI (uninfected) received 0.2 mL distilled water for seven days before the inoculation of Plasmodium berghei ANKA parasites on day 7 (D7). The parasitaemia levels were examined after 72 hours using standard procedure and blood collected through cardiac puncture for haematological study. Results: The Lethal Dose (LD50) of the crude ARTAVOL extract was greater than 5000 mg/kg. Also, there was calmness and paw licking immediately after dosing which stopped after few minutes. Significant reduction in parasitaemia level was observed in all test doses when compared with negative control. At 30 mg/kg, the extract gave 62.9% suppression, which was not significantly different from that of 60 mg/kg (68.7%) on day 3. On day 5, the extract gave 62.3% and 66.4% Suppressions At 30 And 60 Mg/Kg That Were Not Significantly Different From Each Other. A Dose Dependent Reversal of Hematocrit (HCT) reduction was observed at the 3 dose levels but their parameters did not show any significant difference when compared to the normal group but significant when compared with negative control. Conclusion: ARTAVOL® extract has shown a dose dependent reducing effect on the level of parasitaemia in P.berghei infected mice; it is acutely safe and has ability to increase RBC counts.
Introduction: Bacterial contamination in milk is increasingly becoming a global health threat that is predisposing humans to various food-borne pathogens. This study is carried out to isolate and identify the possible common bacteria which cause milk contamination and the risks associated with it in Biharwe. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in Biharwe small holder dairy farms, Kashari Sub County, Mbarara district, from March 2022 to October 2022 to assess bacterial contamination, isolate, identify, and test antibiotic susceptibility patterns of organisms. A total of 20 milk samples were randomly collected from 20 privately owned small holder dairy farms with healthy lactating animals. Isolation and identification of organisms was carried out by using biochemical tests. The bacteria so identified and their isolation rate were E. coli (20%), Citrobacter freundii (40%), Enterobacter Cloacae (30%), Enterobacter agglomerans (10%). These are indicative of significant contamination of milk and important human pathogens. The antibiotic susceptibility test was performed on Mueller-Hinton agar by the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. About 100 % of E. coli isolates was sensitive to Tetracycline with 0% resistance, 75% of Citrobacter freundii was sensitive to Tetracycline with 25% resistant isolates, 100% of Entrobacter cloacae was sensitive to Tetracycline with 0% resistance, and 100% of E. agglomerans was sensitive with 0% resistance. Overall 90% of the isolates were sensitive to Tetracycline with only 10% resistance. All the bacterial isolates were 100% sensitive to Gentamicin with 0% resistant. 100% of Citrobacter freundii, Entrobacter cloacae and Enterobacter agglomerans isolateswas resistant to Ampicillin while only 50% of E.coli isolates was sensitive to Ampicillin. 100% of Entrobacter cloacae, E.coli and Enterobacter agglomerans isolates was sensitive to Streptomycin while 75% of Citrobacter freundii was sensitive and 25% was resistant to Streptomycin. Citrobacter freundii was the only isolated organism resistant to more than one antibiotic (100% resistant to Ampicillin and 25% resistant to Tetracycline and Streptomycin). Therefore, the pattern of antibiotic susceptibility tests among the isolates is statistically significant in Gentamicin (P=0.00). Conclusion: This study revealed that raw cow’s milk in the study area could be an important source of infection with a wide range of organisms, particularly gram-negative bacteria. An important source of microbial contamination of milk is fecal pollution probably cow dung. There is need for instituting effective control measures to protect public health. This includes mandatory milk pasteurization by traders and improved hygienic handling of containers during milking, ensuring milking is not done on floors with cow dung.
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