Serological Investigation of Japanese Encephalitis Virus Infection in Commercially Reared Pigs, Southwestern Nigeria.

Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is a zoonotic arbovirus that causes abortion, stillbirth, and congenital defects in pigs, and epidemic encephalitis in humans. Currently, there is scarcity of information on JEV infection in pigs in Nigeria. Since the Culex tritaeniorhynchus vector of JEV is present in Nigeria and considering recent anecdotal reports of abortions and birth of weak piglets in some pig farms in southwestern Nigeria, there is a need for studies on the presence of the virus and its true burden among pig populations in the country.

Seasonal variation of mycotoxin levels in poultry feeds and feed ingredients in Oyo State, Nigeria.

Mycotoxins pose a major problem to poultry production as a result of feed contamination which has deleterious consequences such as production losses and human health risks. A total of 158 chicken feed samples were randomly collected from 46 consenting poultry farms in Oyo State throughout the wet season (April-October; 91 samples) and the dry season (November-March; 67 samples), including compounded feed (n = 129) and feed ingredients (n = 29). Samples were promptly transported to the laboratory in sterile plastic vials for lateral flow assay for mycotoxins using six different commercial mycotoxin test kits each for aflatoxin B1, zearalenone, deoxynivalenol, ochratoxin A, fumonisin, and T-2 toxin/HT-2 toxin.

A multi-state survey of farm-level preparedness towards African swine fever outbreak in Nigeria.

Outbreaks of African Swine Fever (ASF) have severe economic implications for Nigeria and result in significant loss of livelihoods. The non-availability of vaccines makes biosecurity the reliable key to reducing ASF outbreaks. This study evaluated preparedness for ASF outbreaks at the farm level among 247 pig farmers randomly selected from Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Edo, Kwara, and Oyo states.

Kolaviron attenuated arsenic acid induced-cardiorenal dysfunction via regulation of ROS, C-reactive proteins (CRP), cardiac troponin I (CTnI) and BCL2.

Arsenic acid is one of the abundant environmental pollutants present in soil, water and the air. Undoubtedly, it has found its way to the food chain in which humans and animals are the final targets thereby causing arrays of disease conditions including cardiovascular and renal dysfunction. Hence, the use of phytochemicals present in medicinal plants has gained global acceptance as chemotherapeutic agents that can prevent, ameliorate, reverse or treat diseases.

Sero-epidemiological survey and risk factors associated with brucellosis in dogs in south-western Nigeria.

Introduction: In Nigeria, there is limited information on brucellosis particularly in dogs, despite its public health implications. We undertook a sero-epidemiological survey of brucellosis in dogs to determine the prevalence of the disease and associated risk factors for its occurrence in Nigeria.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to screen dogs in south-western Nigeria for antibodies to Brucella sp using the rapid slide agglutination test (RSA) and Rose Bengal test (RBT), with positive samples confirmed respectively by serum agglutination test (SAT) and competitive enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA).

Toxicological evaluations of methanolic extract of Moringa oleifera leaves in liver and kidney of male Wistar rats.

Background: This study was conducted to investigate toxicological effects associated with prolonged consumption of Moringa oleifera leaves as a beverage.

Methods: Thirty rats were used in this study. They were grouped into five groups of six rats.