Biogeography of the theileriosis vector, Rhipicephalus appendiculatus under current and future climate scenarios of Zimbabwe.

Climate directly influences the epidemiology of vector-borne diseases at various spatial and temporal scales. Following the recent increased incidences of theileriosis in Zimbabwe, a disease mainly transmitted by Rhipicephalus appendiculatus, we determined lethal temperatures for the species and current and possible future distribution using the machine learning algorithm 'Maxent'. Rhipicephalus appendiculatus larvae had an upper lethal temperature (ULT) of about 44 ± 0.

Bovine brucellosis and tuberculosis at a livestock-wildlife interface in Zimbabwe: A nexus for amplification of a zoonosis or a myth?

Background: Bovine brucellosis and tuberculosis are important zoonoses affecting both livestock and wildlife.

Objectives: The study aimed to investigate seroprevalence of brucellosis and to isolate Brucella spp. and Mycobacterium bovis in cattle from livestock-wildlife interface areas.

Prevalence of Species on Cattle Breeding Farms in Zimbabwe.

Infertility remains a challenge in breeding herds in most developing countries. In the current study, 104 penile sheath washes were collected from bulls of different breeds and ages from different cattle breeding farms in Zimbabwe. The samples were submitted to the Central Veterinary Laboratory, Zimbabwe, for screening of species using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Resistance of ticks on cattle to amitraz in Zimbabwe.

Resistance of one host and three host ticks on cattle to amitraz was studied using samples from five diptanks in the Domboshawa Communal Land Area of Zimbabwe. A random tick profile and a questionnaire survey on the tick control practices of the area were also carried out. Engorged Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) decoloratus, Rhipicephalus appendiculatus and Amblyomma hebraeum females were randomly collected from cattle presented for dipping at the 5 diptanks and were allowed to oviposit separately at T: 28 °C and RH: 85-95%.

Antimicrobial Profiling of Bacteria Isolated from Fish Sold at Informal Market in Mufakose, Zimbabwe.

The number of infections caused by antibiotic resistant bacteria is rising worldwide. Fish from multisource pollution waters can harbour multidrug-resistant bacteria that can be disseminated to humans through eating or contact of contaminated fish. A cross-sectional study was carried out to (i) isolate and phenotypically identify bacteria from 36 fish samples from informal market in Mufakose, Harare, and (ii) determine the antibiotic sensitivity pattern of the isolated bacteria against ten available antibiotics (ampicillin 10 g, gentamycin 30 g, penicillin G 10 g, erythromycin 15 g, tetracycline 30 g, kanamycin 30 g, neomycin 10 g, cloxacillin 5 g, lincomycin 15 g, and sulfamethoxazole 25 g) using the Kirby-Bauer disk agar diffusion method.

Epidemiological aspects of the persistent transmission of rabies during an outbreak (2010 - 2017) in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Canine-mediated human rabies is endemic to the entire African continent, where the disease burden is often highest in rural communities of resource-limited countries. In this study, we analysed an animal rabies outbreak, which had persisted since 2010 in the predominantly metropolitan capital city of Zimbabwe, Harare. As rabies is considered to disproportionally affect rural communities, the persistence of urban rabies in this metropolitan setting is of interest.

Microbial quality of frozen Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) meat samples from three selected farms in Zimbabwe.

Microbial quality of frozen Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) meat from three farms in Zimbabwe was assessed based on 2051 samples collected for pre-export testing during 2006 to 2011. Data were perused by season and year in terms of aerobic plate (APC), coliform (CC), Escherichia coli (ECC) and Listeria monocytogenes (LMC) counts and the presence of Salmonella spp. The log10-transformed data were compared among the farms and seasons using the Kruskal-Wallis test.