Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an increasingly prevalent pathogen. We studied the prevalence of MRSA and its association with vaginitis during pregnancy. Bacteriological investigations of high vaginal swabs of 350 healthy pregnant women attending antenatal clinics were carried out. Staphylococci were isolated from high vaginal swabs of 135 of the women. The staphylococcal isolates were resistant to multiple antibiotics. The PCR amplification of DNA of 20 selected isolates yielded six possessing the mecA gene and 13 the blaZ gene. MRSA possessing both the mecA and blaZ genes were isolated from subjects who reported vaginal discharge and itching.

Dust in poultry confinement facilities were investigated for their fungi and mycotoxins contents. Concentrations of microfungiin the air of poultry confinement facilities were determined using air samplers, and fungal isolation from airby plate exposure. Settled dusts were investigated for their fungal load, types of fungi present and mycotoxins present.Microfungal load in settled dust and air of poultry confinements were found to be 3.5-42 x 106 cfu/g and 5-119 x105 cfu/m3 respectively. Fungi isolated from poultry confinements were: Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigatus,Aspergillus parasiticus, Aspergillus ochraceus Penicillium notatum, Mucor racemosus, Penicillium oxalicum, Trichodermaviride, Stachybotrys atra, Fusarium oxysporum, Candida albicans, Cryptococus neoformans and Saccharomyces cerevisae.Mycotoxins concentrations obtained from the analyses of sieved poultry dust were 21.32 + 2.35 ppb of aflatoxins,11.26 + 1.78 ppb of ochratoxins and 4.10 + 0.13 ppb of fumonisins. Aflatoxin concentrations and fungal loads in settleddust showed positive correlation with duration of dust deposition, but the former produced stronger association than thelatter (r = +0.991, P < 0.001 and r = +0.957, P < 0.02 respectively). Results obtained in this study indicate that poultrydust is rich in mirofungi and mycotoxins which could be of occupational health importance.

Nono is a spontaneously fermented yoghurt-like milk product consumed is a staple food commodity in parts of the Sub-Saharan West Africa. Nono is usually consumed along with 'Fura' as 'Fura da Nono' in Nigeria. Studies on physicochemical and bacteriological qualities were carried out on samples of Nono obtained from 5 different sources in Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria. The Nono samples were found to be nutritious, containing moderate levels of ash, crude fat, crude protein and carbohydrate. The pH of the Nono samples was relatively low (4.04 ±0.04), while the density and specific density were close to that of distilled water at room temperature. Total aerobic plate count of Nono samples was 1.8 ±0.02 × 106 CFU.mL -1 . A total of 15 bacteria species namely Eubacterium nodatum, Bacillus subtilis,

Abstract. The poultry industry in Nigeria keeps expanding on a daily basis and it is faced with the problem of egg glut almost yearly. Most of the poultry are raised in rural environments where there is no available and avoidable power supply for egg preservation. The study was aimed at using locally available and cheap materials for preservation of eggs quality under the hot ambient temperature. The eggs were divided into three groups of 80 eggs each. The first and second groups were treated with vegetable oil (soybean oil) and shea butter, respectively, while the third group served as control. The eggs were stored under the ambient conditions and assessed for their physical and nutritional qualities on days 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, 36, 43 and 50. The physical quality was assessed by determining the albumen height and the Haugh's unit, while the nutritional quality was appraised through the protein concentration of the albumen. Based on the values of Haugh's unit, eggs treated with vegetable oil produced excellent results; good quality eggs were obtained up to 50 th day of storage. Treatment with shea butter maintained quality eggs up to the 29 th day, while with untreated eggs good physical quality was maintained up to 22 nd day of storage. Protein concentrations of eggs in the three groups studied decline with duration of storage, however the protein concentrations of eggs treated with vegetable oil were significantly higher than the other groups (p<0.001). The eggs treated with shea butter recorded a comparative higher protein concentrations than the untreated eggs (p=0.002).

No abstract

Schistosomiasis, also known as bilharzia, is a disease caused by blood flukes of the genus Schistosoma. The most impacted countries are those in Sub-Saharan Africa, which accounts for nearly 90% of the world’s estimated 236.6 million cases. The study was aimed at investigating the occurrence of significant bacteriuria among schistosomiasis positive individuals in Ekiti State, Nigeria.Two hundred and forty-fourindividuals living in riparian areas of Ekiti statewere enlisted for the study. Urine samples were collected from the participants and examined microscopically for presence of Schistosoma eggs, followed by urinalysis and bacteriological investigations. Schistosoma eggs were detected in 35 (14.34%) of the 244 urine samples, while significant bacteriuria was recorded in 16 (6.56%) of the samples. Out of the 16 significant-bacteriuria positive samples only 3 (18.75%) were observed to have Schistosoma eggs; while significant-bacteriuria was recorded in 3 (8.57%) of the 35 schistosomiasis positive individuals. The bacteriuria was found to be significantly associated with proteinuria (χ2=25.055; p<0.001) and leukocyturia (χ2=16.011; p<0.001). The bacteria isolated were Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Vibrio mirabilis, Escherichia coli, Corynebacterium xerosis, Bacillus cereus, Kurthia gibsoni, Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus saprophyticus, among others. The Gram-negative bacterial isolates were highly susceptible to Gentamycin (100%), Tetracycline (85.7%) and Chloramphenicol (78.6%); while the Gram-positive bacterial isolates gave high susceptibility to Gentamycin (84.8%) and Ciprofloxacin (76.1%). Most of the bacteria isolated in this study have been reported to be associated urinary tract infection, except Kurthia gibsoni which has been found to spread from animal to a human by zoophilic sexual intercourse. A case of Schistosomiasis with positive proteinuria and leukocyturia should be taken as UTI and treated accordingly.

Tuberculosis is an age-long disease that has proved challenging to eradicate. In 2019 about 10 million people fell ill of TB and it has caused 1.2 million deaths among HIV negative people and 208,000 deaths among HIV positive individuals [1]. The reduction in incidence rate between 2015 and 2019 was 9% and global target for 2030 is 80% [1]. For the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and WHO’s End TB Strategy the following should be considered; (1) breaking the transmission cascade of tuberculosis infection (2) effective management of the risk factors of spreading TB infection (3) administering workable preventive policy for individual health sector, and (4) prompt and effective standard control method. Tuberculosis infection is a must to eradicate, hence all stakeholders should come together for the patients, health care workers and policy makers to achieve End TB by 2035.

The experiment investigated the effects of various soya bean groups (boiled, fermented, and roasted) on Japanese quail at 3 weeks old. 160 Japanese quail were randomly assigned to four treatments (control, boiling soya beans, fermented soya beans, roasted soya beans) with four duplicates each. The 12-week trial lasted. Data on weekly body weights and feed conversion ratio were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey's honestly significant at 5% probability test. The result shows there are significant differences in weekly weights of Japanese quail at weeks 1(828.12-1083.24g), 2(1026.47-1362.02g), and 3(1325.69-1528.20g) with the highest observed in birds in treatment 2(boiled soya beans). The maximum FCR was in week 1 for all treatments, while the lowest was in treatment 3 for weeks 5 and 9 (0.83; P<0.005). Week 1 to week 12 feed conversion ratio decreases. The birds' feed conversion ratios varied significantly (P<0.05). The quails in treatment 4 (roasted soybeans) had the greatest weekly weight after the trial (1742.34g). Thus, quails in treatment 3 (roasted soybean) had the best development performance than the control, boiled and fermented. So it advised that roasted soybean can be an efficient diet for Japanese quails for maximum performance.