Nearly Complete Genome Sequences of Type 2 Sabin-Like Polioviruses from Northern Nigerian Poliovirus Surveillance, 2016 to 2018.

We sequenced 109 type 2 Sabin-like poliovirus isolates that had been collected from acute flaccid paralysis patients or healthy children in Nigeria. Understanding the genetic makeup of these viruses may contribute to polio eradication efforts.

SARS CoV-2 Seroprevalence in Selected States of High and Low Disease Burden in Nigeria.

Importance: The global impact of COVID-19 has led to an increased need to continuously assess disease surveillance tools. The utility of SARS-CoV-2 serologic tools in determining immunity levels across different age groups and locations in helping to quickly assess the burden of COVID-19 with significant health policy implications is unknown.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies with respect to the age group and sex of participants.

Enhancing acute flaccid paralysis surveillance system towards polio eradication: reverse cold chain monitoring in Nigeria, 2017 to 2019.

Introduction: Highly sensitive acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance is critical for detection of poliovirus circulation and documentation for polio-free certification. The reverse cold chain (RCC) is a system designed to maintain stool specimens in appropriate temperature for effective detection of poliovirus in the laboratory. We monitored the RCC of AFP surveillance in Nigeria to determine its effectiveness in maintaining viability of enterovirus.

Dynamics of Evolution of Poliovirus Neutralizing Antigenic Sites and Other Capsid Functional Domains during a Large and Prolonged Outbreak.

We followed the dynamics of capsid amino acid replacement among 403 Nigerian outbreak isolates of type 2 circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV2) from 2005 through 2011. Four different functional domains were analyzed: (i) neutralizing antigenic (NAg) sites, (ii) residues binding the poliovirus receptor (PVR), (iii) VP1 residues 1 to 32, and (iv) the capsid structural core. Amino acid replacements mapped to 37 of 43 positions across all 4 NAg sites; the most variable and polymorphic residues were in NAg sites 2 and 3b.

Serological and Virological Evidence of Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever Virus Circulation in the Human Population of Borno State, Northeastern Nigeria.

Background: Despite several studies on the seroprevalence of antibodies against Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever virus (CCHFV) from humans and cattle in Nigeria, detailed investigation looking at IgG and IgM have not been reported. Additionally, there have been no confirmed cases of human CCHFV infection reported from Nigeria.

Principal Findings: Samples from sera (n = 1189) collected from four Local Government Areas in Borno State (Askira/Uba, Damboa, Jere and Maiduguri) were assessed for the presence of IgG and IgM antibodies.

Serum cortisol of Sahel goats following rumenotomy with assorted anaesthetics and sutures.

The utmost need for pragmatic combination of surgical sutures and local anaesthetic that would evoke minimal post-surgical stress response and allow uncomplicated healing is essential for successful surgeries. Fifteen Sahel goats were randomly allocated into three groups A, B and C to quantitatively assay (ELISA) serum cortisol profiles following rumenotomy, as markers of surgical stress. Diazepam at 0.

Importation and outbreak of wild polioviruses from 2000 to 2014 and interruption of transmission in Cameroon.

Background: Efficient implementation of the global eradication strategies consisting of Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) surveillance and mass immunization campaigns led to interruption of indigenous wild poliovirus transmission in Cameroon in 1999.

Objectives: This study describes type 1 and type 3 wild poliovirus (WPV) importation, incidence, geographic distribution and control since the original interruption of transmission in Cameroon.

Study Design: Stool samples from AFP patients under the age of 15 years in Cameroon were collected nationwide and subjected to virus isolation on RD and L20B cell cultures.

Neonatal Tetanus Immunity in Nigeria: The Effect of HIV Infection on Serum Levels and Transplacental Transfer of Antibodies.

Background. Tetanus toxoid immunisation of pregnant mother has remained the most effective strategy in eliminating neonatal tetanus. Impaired production and/or transplacental transfer of antibodies may affect the effectiveness of this strategy.

Sabin Vaccine Reversion in the Field: a Comprehensive Analysis of Sabin-Like Poliovirus Isolates in Nigeria.

Unlabelled: To assess the dynamics of genetic reversion of live poliovirus vaccine in humans, we studied molecular evolution in Sabin-like poliovirus isolates from Nigerian acute flaccid paralysis cases obtained from routine surveillance. We employed a novel modeling approach to infer substitution and recombination rates from whole-genome sequences and information about poliovirus infection dynamics and the individual vaccination history. We confirmed observations from a recent vaccine trial that VP1 substitution rates are increased for Sabin-like isolates relative to the rate for the wild type due to increased nonsynonymous substitution rates.

Development and validation of serological assays for viral hemorrhagic fevers and determination of the prevalence of Rift Valley fever in Borno State, Nigeria.

Background: Rift Valley fever (RVF) is endemic to the tropical regions of eastern and southern Africa. The seroprevalence of RVF was investigated among the human population in Borno State, Nigeria to determine the occurrence of the disease in the study area in comparison with that of Lassa fever and Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic fever.

Methods: Recombinant nucleoprotein (rNP)-based IgG-ELISAs for the detection of serum antibodies against RVF virus (RVFV), Lassa fever virus (LASV), and Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) were used to test human sera in Borno State, Nigeria.

Development of an efficient entire-capsid-coding-region amplification method for direct detection of poliovirus from stool extracts.

Laboratory diagnosis has played a critical role in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative since 1988, by isolating and identifying poliovirus (PV) from stool specimens by using cell culture as a highly sensitive system to detect PV. In the present study, we aimed to develop a molecular method to detect PV directly from stool extracts, with a high efficiency comparable to that of cell culture. We developed a method to efficiently amplify the entire capsid coding region of human enteroviruses (EVs) including PV.

Multiple independent emergences of type 2 vaccine-derived polioviruses during a large outbreak in northern Nigeria.

Since 2005, a large poliomyelitis outbreak associated with type 2 circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV2) has occurred in northern Nigeria, where immunization coverage with trivalent oral poliovirus vaccine (tOPV) has been low. Phylogenetic analysis of P1/capsid region sequences of isolates from each of the 403 cases reported in 2005 to 2011 resolved the outbreak into 23 independent type 2 vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV2) emergences, at least 7 of which established circulating lineage groups. Virus from one emergence (lineage group 2005-8; 361 isolates) was estimated to have circulated for over 6 years.

Human bocaviruses are highly diverse, dispersed, recombination prone, and prevalent in enteric infections.

A new species of parvovirus, tentatively named human bocavirus 4 (HBoV4), was genetically characterized. Among 641 feces samples obtained from children and adults, the most commonly detected bocavirus species were, in descending order, HBoV2, HBoV3, HBoV4, and HBoV1, with an HBoV2 prevalence of 21% and 26% in Nigerian and Tunisian children, respectively. HBoV3 or HBoV4 species were found in 12 of 192 patients with non-polio acute flaccid paralysis in Tunisia and Nigeria and 0 of 96 healthy Tunisian contacts (P = .

Study of hepatic functions and prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigenaemia in Nigerian children with human immunodeficiency virus infection.

Background: HIV and hepatitis B virus (HBV) co-infected patients have a significantly increased risk of dying from liver disease especially after starting treatment with highly active antiretroviral therapy. We aim to determine the prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigenaemia in HIV-infected children and their significance in relation to hepatic functions.

Method: Two hundred and eighty four HIV-infected children aged between 4 mouths to 15 years attending the Paediatric infectious disease clinic of University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) Maiduguri, Nigeria from September 2007 to December 2007 were the subject for this study.

A novel picornavirus associated with gastroenteritis.

A novel picornavirus genome was sequenced, showing 42.6%, 35.2%, and 44.

Integrating syndromic case management of sexually transmitted diseases into primary healthcare services in Nigeria.

Background: Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are a huge public health problem; both the aetiological and clinical approaches to management have limitations. WHO has therefore developed an alternative strategy--the syndromic case management approach. This paper reports a training of healthcare providers at the Primary Health Centers aimed at integrating STD care into other services in the PHCs to improve management at the community level.

Serum antiphospholipid antibodies among healthy adults in northeastern Nigeria.

Background: Antiphospholipid antibodies have been associated with variety of conditions. There is no standard health associated reference values required for the interpretation of antiphospholipid antibodies result available among adults in North- eastern Nigeria and Nigeria in general. The aim of this study is to determine the normal serum level (cutoffpoint) in healthy adult Nigerians.

Cognitive function in HIV-seropositive Nigerians without AIDS.

Studies of cognitive function in individuals with HIV infection who remain relatively asymptomatic have shown widely variable estimates of impairment in different races and countries. Limited data exist on the impact of early asymptomatic HIV infection on cognition in developing nations, and indeed none from Nigeria. Hence, this cross-sectional study sets out to determine whether there are differences between Nigerian asymptomatic HIV-seropositive and HIV-seronegative subjects, and whether such differences: if any, could be explained by the degree of immunosuppression (i.

Pattern of hospital admissions of children with poisoning in the Sudano-Sahelian North eastern Nigeria.

Objective: Poisoning is a major problem in the paediatric population. In view of the paucity of literature on the subject matter in the northeastern part of Nigeria, this retrospective study was undertaken to describe the epidemiological features of accidental poisoning in children less than 13 years old who were admitted to the Emergency Paediatrics Unit (EPU) of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH), Maiduguri. The specific objectives included the determination of the age range most vulnerable, the principal agents of poisoning, the annual pattern of occurrence, the commonly administered home remedy and the examination of the need for preventive strategies in this part of the country.

Isolation of recombinant type 2 vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) from a Nigerian child.

A type 2 vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV), differing from Sabin 2 at 2.5% (22/903) of VP1 nucleotide (nt) positions, was isolated from an incompletely immunized 21-month-old Nigerian child who developed acute flaccid paralysis in 2002. Sequences upstream of nt position 620 (within the 5'-untranslated region [5'-UTR]) and downstream of nt position 5840 (in the 3C(pro) region) were derived from species C enteroviruses unrelated to the oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) strains.

Prevalence of rubella-specific IgG antibody in non-immunized pregnant women in Maiduguri, north eastern Nigeria.

The prevalence of IgG antibody specific to the rubella virus was assessed in 207 consenting pregnant women. The women were in the age range of 14 to 40 years (mean 25.8 years) and parity range of 0 to 8 (mean para 4), in their first and second trimesters of pregnancy.

Presentation and outcome of HIV-1 infection in hospitalised infants and other children in north-eastern Nigeria.

There is limited information on HIV infection in children in West Africa. This prospective case series study was done to determine the size of the problem and the feasibility of selective screening for infection based on clinical presentation. It involved infants and other children admitted to the Children's Emergency Ward and Paediatric Medical Ward of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Nigeria, from the beginning of September 1992 to the end of September 1994.

HIV infection among pregnant women. A worsening situation in Maiduguri, Nigeria.

A serosurvey of 1,233 pregnant women aged 15-41 years, and attending antenatal clinics in Maiduguri, Nigeria from July 1991 to February 1993 showed that 28 (2.3%) of the women were positive for HIV antibodies. Twenty-four (1.