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This study was carried out to identify the common moulds growing in selected commercial poultry feed sold in Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria. Forty-eight bulk samples derived froml92 bags of feeds were collected from broiler starter (BS), broiler finishers (BF), grower mash (GM) and layer mash (LM) across 4 different brands of ommercial poultry feeds, which included Livestock (LF), Top (TF) Guinea (GF) and Vital (VF) feeds. The feed samples were collected during the rainy season months of June, July and August. The common moulds isolated from these feeds were Aspergillus sp., Peicillium sp.,Mucor sp., Yeast sp., Rhizopus sp., Epicoecum sp., Gymnoaseus sp., Cladosporium sp., Mortierella sp. as well as Bacteria. Generally, more organisms were isolated in June than the other months with Mortierella sp. being the only one not isolated in that month. Vital feed with 8 different isolates had the highest diversity of fungal species while the others had between 4 and 5 species. Prevalence rates across the feed types, generally ranged from 18.76% in layer mash to 30.03% in broiler finisher. The four Aspergillus sp. isolated came from GM and BF. This study highlights the need for constant monitoring of moulds in commercial feedstuff produced in the humid tropical environments such as Imo state, Nigeria. There is also the need to routinely include fungal growth nhibitors in commercial feeds since moulds are capable of reducing the nutritional values of feedstuff as well as elaborating pathogenic toxins.

Information is required on the diversity of indigenous plant species for ruminant production in Nigeria. A preliminary field survey was carried out to determine the diversity of plants utilized for small ruminant feeding at three rural farming communities spread over three states of south-eastern Nigeria. Indigenous farmers in the area for their ruminant feeding were utilizing 163 fodder plants. Out of this number, 161 were utilized at Orsumoghu in Anambra State, 143 at Umuokanne in Imo State and 111 at Umugo in Abia State. One hundred and eleven plant species were common to the three sites, 25 were common to Orsumoghu and Umuokanne alone, while two each were common to Orsumoghu/Umugo and Umugo/Umuokanne. Twenty-three plants were exclusively identified at Orsumoghu. Thirteen plants were commonly identified as preferred browses at the three sites, while 10 plants each were named exclusively at Abia/Imo and Anambra sites. Dactyledama batterii, Alchornea cordifolia, Aspilia africana, Manniophyton fulvum and Costus afer among others were highly preferred at the three sites. It is probable that the diversity of plants utilized at the different sites may reflect the differences in livestock rearing systems practiced at these sites. Although the present study produced a more comprehensive list of plants utilized for ruminant feeding in the area than previous studies, further in-depth studies are needed in order to understand whether the differences observed between the sites reflect the availability of plants in the areas.

A thirty-five day feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the performance of broiler finishers fed Microdesmis puberula leaf meal supplemented with "Safzyme " (a cellulolytic enzyme). Microdesmis R puberula is a choice tropical browse plant. Three broiler finisher diets were formulated to contain 0.0, 12.5% Microdesmis puberula leaf meal without enzyme. and 12.5% Microdesmis puberula leaf meal with 0.10% enzyme. One hundred and twenty (120) four-week-old Hubbard broiler chicks were divided into three groups of forty (40) birds each and randomly assigned to the three treatment diets in a completely randomized design (CRD). Data were collected on feed intake, body weight gain and feed conversion ratio. There was significant difference (p 0.05) from birds on leaf meal diets without enzyme supplementation. Birds on 0.0% leaf meal diet recorded the highest daily body weight gain. Feed conversion ratios of all treatment groups were comparable. The result suggests that 0.10% of the enzyme supplementation in diets containing 12.5% Microdesmis puberula leaf meal did not improve the performance of finisher broilers.

The incidence of cysticercosis due to Taenia saginata in both local and exotic breeds of cattle slaughtered for meat in southeastern Nigeria between November 1999 and April 2002 is reported. The examination of various organs of 25,800 cattle in 10 major abattoirs of this region showed that 6750 (26.2%) were infected with Cysticercus (C.) bovis. The prevalence rates varied from one abattoir to another while the rates of cysticercosis in local and exotic breeds varied significantly (P > 0.05). Sixty percent of all the infected animals had cysts. The tongue, cardiac, and masseter muscles were the main predilection sites of the cysts. Out of 11,720 male cattle, examined, 3215 (27.4%) had cysts of C. bovis while 160 (13.6%) of the 1180 female animals investigated were infected. There was an inverse relationship between the ages of the animals and prevalence of infection with C. bovis (r=−0.8743, P < 0.05). Monthly occurrence of the cysts in the animals revealed an upsurge of infected animals during the dry season. The epidemiology and epizootiology of Taenia saginata and C. bovis in relation to the veterinary service agencies and public health planners in southeastern Nigeria are highlighted.