Model-based cost-effectiveness estimates of testing strategies for diagnosing hepatitis C virus infection in Central and Western Africa.

Background: Whereas 72% of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected people worldwide live in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), only 6% of them have been diagnosed. Innovative technologies for HCV diagnosis provide opportunities for developing testing strategies more adapted to resource-constrained settings. However, studies about their economic feasibility in LMICs are lacking.

Multiple contaminations of chickens with Campylobacter, Escherichia coli and Salmonella in Yaounde (Cameroon).

Introduction: Food-borne diseases associated with Campylobacter, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella are mainly caused by the consumption of raw or undercooked poultry meat. The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of Campylobacter, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella in chickens.

Methodology: One hundred and fifty chickens collected from eight retail markets in Yaounde were examined for the presence of Campylobacter, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella using standard bacteriological procedures.

Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella serotypes in chickens from retail markets in Yaounde (Cameroon).

From February 2006 to January 2007, 150 chickens were collected from eight retail markets in Yaounde, and 90 (60%) tested positive for Salmonella. Seventy-nine chickens were contaminated with only one Salmonella serotype, 10 with two different serotypes, and 1 with four serotypes. The most prevalent serotypes were Enteritidis (47 strains) and Hadar (29 strains).

Antimicrobial resistance and molecular characterization of Vibrio cholerae O1 during the 2004 and 2005 outbreak of cholera in Cameroon.

There was an outbreak of cholera in Cameroon during 2004 and 2005; the epidemic began in Douala in January 2004 and spread throughout the south of the country. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported 8005 cases in 2004 and 2847 cases in 2005. Five hundred eighty-nine stool samples were received in the Pasteur Centre of Cameroon and 352 were microbiologically confirmed to be positive for Vibrio cholerae O1.