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Food is an essential need of mankind, obtained from plant and animal sources. However, due to its nutrient rich nature, particularly those from animal source, food is a viable carrier of pathogenic microorganisms and other chemical and physical contaminants. Which are capable of causing infections, serious disease and mortality in humans, if not competently processed from farm to fork, to guarantee safety. Food borne illnesses resulting from consumption of contaminated foods is a significant contributor to the global health burden. Coming at significant costs, the burden of foodborne illnesses is significantly more severe in low- and middle-income countries. Especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, with the West African sub-region which includes Nigeria (Africa's most populous country), carrying the highest burden of foodborne illnesses in the world. Therefore, this paper set out to summarise the common microbial, chemical, and physical contaminants prevalent in animal foods in Nigeria and their routes of entry. The paper concludes by highlighting strategies that can be used to reduce the burden of foodborne illnesses locally and globally, particularly the successful development of a harmonised food safety policy by Nigerian authorities in 2022 after several decades of incoherence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new species of the genus Echinochasmushas been described from the small intestine of the black kite (Milvus m. migrans) collected from Swabi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan and identified as E. swabiensis n. sp. The new species is different from its congeners in its body size; it has 22 collar spines which includes two corner spines on one side, four on the other side and eight marginal plus ventral spines on each side. There aretegumental-scale like spines interspersed on the anterior margin of the ventral sucker with a smaller, terminal oral sucker. The pharynx is nearly twice as large as the oral sucker, while the ventral sucker is nearly six times as large as the oral sucker. The suckers’ width ratio is 1 : 4.7 to 1 : 5.6. The vitelline follicles are compact and denser at the lateral sides masking the caeca. This species has been added to the record of trematodes circulating among avian species, especially in the study area.

Summary: Besides the liver, rumen is one of the most important components of metabolism in ruminants. However, the microbes residing in the rumen are influenced by several complex factors such as diet, which result in fluctuations in the rumen pH. Rumen pH affects feed intake and feed digestibility, subsequently causing microbial shift in the individual members of microbial community residing in the foregut and hindgut. This in turn causes an increase in lipopolysaccharide concentration, among other factors, in the gut fluid and animal blood. Irrespective of diet fed to animals, Firmicutes would probably be the most dominant in high grain diet while Bacteroidetes are dominant in hay diet, and both have a relative abundance of about 80% or more at times. The shift in microbial population is not limited to adult ruminants alone but also occur in calves. Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, and Proteobacteria were the most abundant in both hay and concentrate diet of newly weaned calves. Prolonged, depressed pH, causes subacute ruminal acidosis. This leads to compromise in the integrity of both foregut and hindgut of ruminants, eventually causing structural changes in the gut physiology. Furthermore, diet containing C‐12:0 and C‐14:0, which are medium‐chain fatty acids, were toxic to rumen protozoa. Phytochemical content in some plant residues when fed to animals also causes shift in microbial population. Therefore, foregut and hindgut pH stability is important for ruminant health and for optimal productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates indigenous communities' attitudes towards sustainable ecotourism development in Olumirin Waterfall Southwestern Nigeria. A field survey via structured questionnaire was conducted on 150 village respondents living in the vicinity of Olumirin waterfall of which fifty questionnaires were randomly distributed to each of the three communities that were purposively selected. This is also complemented by observation during field survey. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Result showed that awareness and knowledge of ecotourism was high in the communities. Majority (94%) of the sampled population have positive attitude towards ecotourism activities in Olumirin waterfall, exhibit great appreciation of the existence of the waterfall and are interested in the continuity of the site as ecotourism attraction. Negative attitude have a minority perspective as tourists activities was not devoid of problems such as pollution, overcrowding and cultural diffusion. Gender (X2=14.11, p<0.05), Education ((X2=32.87, p<0.05), and occupation ((X2=64.4, p<0.05), were significantly related to respondents perception of ecotourism development in Olumirin waterfall. Responses for positive attitude are larger as compared to the negative attitudes in the study site because the contribution of ecotourism activities towards economic enhancement of the rural people is high. However, effective regulation and proper planning is essential in order to enhance the sustainability of ecotourism in Olumirin waterfall while local people's active involvement at different level of ecotourism development is vital in ensuring its success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality. Nigeria is currently undergoing rapid epidemiological transition. The objective was to study whether urbanization is associated with increased prevalence of MetS between native rural Abuja settlers and genetically related urban dwellers. Materials and Methods: It was a cross-sectional study. Three hundred and forty-two urban native Abuja settlers and 325 rural dwellers were used for the study. Fasting blood lipid, glucose, waist circumference, blood pressure, and body mass index were determined. MetS was defined according to three standard criteria. SPSS 16.0 was used for statistical analysis. P<0.05 was used as statistically significant. Results: Obesity, hypertriglyceridemia, and hypertension were commoner among urban dwellers than rural dwellers. MetS was associated more with the female gender. Urbanization significantly increases the frequency of MetS using the three standard definitions. The prevalence of MetS using International Diabetes Federation, World Health Organization, and National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III among rural versus urban dwellers were 7.7% vs. 14.9%, P<0.05; 0% vs. 0.9%, P>0.05; and 3.7% vs. 13.7%, P<0.05, respectively. Conclusion: This study shows that MetS is a major health condition among rural and urban Nigerians and that urbanization significantly increases the prevalence of MetS. This can be explained on the basis of higher prevalence of dyslipidemia, obesity, and hypertension in urban setting, possibly as a result of stress, diet, and reduction in physical activity. Effective preventive strategy is therefore required to stem the increased risk associated with urbanization to reduce the cardiovascular risk associated with MetS among Nigerians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess the prevalence of underweight, overweight and obesity among Nigerians aged 18-45 years, living in urban and rural settlements in one state in Nigeria. Materials and Methods: Four hundred and thirty-five subjects between 18 and 45 years of age were recruited for height, weight and waist circumference (WC) measurements. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated (weight/height2, kg/m2); WHO criteria determined BMI and WC categories. Results: Based on BMI, about 2% of the study population was underweight, 22% was overweight and 4% was obese. There were more normal weight persons in rural than in urban settlement. About 40 and 30% of females in urban and rural settlement, respectively, were either overweight or obese. Based on WC of the sample population, 10.34% had increased risk for metabolic syndrome [action level I (defined as WC ≥94 cm in men and ≥80 cm in women)] and 2.8% had substantially increased risk [action level II (defined as WC ≥102 cm in men and ≥88 cm in women)]. At action level II, there was no obese male. Conclusion: This study revealed that underweight, overweight and obesity exist in young adults, but overweight and obesity are more prevalent. Therefore, concerted efforts should be made to control this in young adults for their present well-being and to possibly avoid the risk of disease later in life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of West African Journal of Medicine is the property of West African Journal of Medicine and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of West African Journal of Medicine is the property of West African Journal of Medicine and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The major part of the burden of people with diabetes mellitus (DM) is their impaired quantity and quality of life. This is due to acute and chronic complications of which diabetic foot ulceration (DFU) takes the greatest toll. Most studies on the disease burden of DFU were carried out in developed countries, and to date, no indigenous study has addressed the burden of foot ulceration in Nigerians with DM. This study attempted to determine the disease burden of this important DM complication. The study was carried out at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Lagos, Nigeria. The working definition of disease burden encompassed prevalence, morbidity, mortality, and the direct economic costs of diabetes mellitus foot syndrome (DMFS). For determination of the estimates of prevalence, the 'capture-recapture' and intensive case-counting methods were used, mortality and morbidity were determined from records of admissions, and associated deaths over a 3-year period (1998-2000). The direct economic costs of foot ulceration were derived from the costs incurred from in-patient days, tests, drugs/medications, surgery, and other miscellaneous units of services. The total number of people with DM seen in LUTH from 1998 to 2000 was 1500, the hospital prevalence of DFU using the capture-recapture method being 9.5%. A total of 7253 medical admissions were made in this 3-year period, and of this number 827 (11.4%) were DM related. DFU-related admissions were 97 in number, and this made up 1.3% and 11.7% of the total medical and diabetes admissions, respectively. During this period, a total of 61 lower limb amputations were carried out and 26 (42.6%) of these were DM related. The proportion of medical deaths due to DMFS deaths was greater than the proportion of medical admissions due to DFU (P = .007). The case fatality of individuals with DFU was approximately 53%. A total number of 20 patients with DM foot ulcers were hospitalized during a 1-year period of the study (2003-2004). The majority had type 2 DM. A large majority (65%) of these patients had some form of surgery in addition to medical management of their condition. Mean costs for successfully treating a patient with DMFS was Nigerian Naira (NGN) 180,581.60. The total costs incurred ranged from NGN 20,400.00 to NGN 278,029.00. Drugs or medications accounted for the majority of the total costs incurred by the patients (46.9%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]