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Bovine cachexia as a multi-factorial clinical syndrome of severe emaciation is a reason for salvage slaughter in Nigeria. Cachectic cows have sustained neck strength despite muscle atrophy and weakness in the limbs. This study evaluated the protein and electrolyte contents and histopathology of longus colli (neck chain) muscle in cachectic Red Bororo (RB) beef cows. Body condition score (BCS 1–9) was the basis for selection of slaughter cows in a case control study. At antemortem inspection, cachectic (n=39) and control (n=15) cows had BCS of 1–2 and ≥ 5, respectively. Longus colli muscle was collected after slaughter on ice pack. Protein and electrolyte (sodium, potassium, calcium, chloride, bicarbonate, inorganic phosphate ions) contents in aqueous supernatant of the muscle homogenate were estimated. Stained tissue sections were examined histologically for lesions and cross-sectional images were digitally analysed to estimate fascicular size as percentage fascicular myofibre area (PFA) and fascicular myofibre to interstitium ratio (FIR). Protein and electrolyte contents, PFA and FIR were not significantly affected by cachexia. Muscle lesions were myofibre atrophy (40.0%), myositis with myofibre necrosis (13.3%) and Sarcocystis cyst in myofibres (51.1%); and their frequencies were comparable in cachectic and control cows. Therefore, longus colli muscle was likely spared from electrolyte-mediated fatigue and cachexia-related muscle atrophy, but had lesions not associated with cachexia with implications linked to physical welfare and meat hygiene that could warrant further investigations.

Vaccinations against diseases to prevent disease outbreaks are strategic to disease prevention, but vaccination failures may constitute a challenge in practice. This study was aimed at assessing the adoption and failure rates of vaccinations in 80 chicken farms in Jos, Nigeria. Data were obtained through a structured questionnaire validated by interviews and checking of farm and veterinary records. Vaccination score (0–1) from the vaccination checklist (5 for broilers and 12 for layers) and vaccination procedure score (0–1), based on scored adopted procedures, were calculated for each farm. Vaccine effectiveness was calculated for each vaccine using the odds ratio from the association of frequencies of disease outbreaks in vaccinated and unvaccinated flocks. Farmers used more of imported than local vaccines. Vaccination procedure and vaccination scores did not influence frequencies of disease outbreaks, but vaccination scores tended to non-robustly correlate (r = − 0.89, p > 0.05) with rates of disease outbreak. Vaccination rates were highest against Newcastle disease and infectious bursal disease, and their vaccinations also had the highest effectiveness. There was an association (p = 0.009) between composite vaccination rates and disease outbreaks with 2.1 odds of outbreaks in vaccinated than unvaccinated flocks. Vaccination failures occurred in the use of 11 out of 12 vaccines and the highest failure rate (47.9%) was in vaccination against coccidiosis. Therefore, vaccination failure is a critical factor in poultry vaccination practice within the locality. The adoption of poultry vaccinations needs to be strategised in the context of a national poultry vaccination policy in order to promote effective poultry disease prevention and control.

Aluminium (Al) is frequently accessible to animal and human populations to the extent that intoxications may occur. Intake of Al is by inhalation of aerosols or particles, ingestion of food, water and medicaments, skin contact, vaccination, dialysis and infusions. Toxic actions of Al induce oxidative stress, immunologic alterations, genotoxicity, pro-inflammatory effect, peptide denaturation or transformation, enzymatic dysfunction, metabolic derangement, amyloidogenesis, membrane perturbation, iron dyshomeostasis, apoptosis, necrosis and dysplasia. The pathological conditions associated with Al toxicosis are desquamative interstitial pneumonia, pulmonary alveolar proteinosis, granulomas, granulomatosis and fibrosis, toxic myocarditis, thrombosis and ischemic stroke, granulomatous enteritis, Crohn’s disease, inflammatory bowel diseases, anemia, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, sclerosis, autism, macrophagic myofasciitis, osteomalacia, oligospermia and infertility, hepatorenal disease, breast cancer and cyst, pancreatitis, pancreatic necrosis and diabetes mellitus. The review provides a broad overview of Al toxicosis as a background for sustained investigations of the toxicology of Al compounds of public health importance.

The study was conducted to assess the effect of zinc on erythrocyte osmotic fragility and hemogram of rats following chronic oral exposure to glyphosate-based herbicide (BUSHFIRE®) at daily doses of 14.4–750 mg/kg of glyphosate. The erythrocyte osmotic fragility, estimated as percentage hemolysis in hypotonic saline, was significantly (p

The increased interest in pig production as a complementary source of animal protein has led to pig population growth in Nigeria. Disease outbreaks represent the major constraint to profitable pig production in locations where there is absence of religious barriers to pork production and consumption. Important pig diseases reported in the country and the location of the pig population affected are highlighted in this review. African swine fever, foot-and-mouth disease, brucellosis, trypanosomosis, babesiosis, eperythrozoonosis, helminthosis, coccidiosis and other parasitoses impact on the production system by negatively affecting feed conversion efficiency, reproduction and growth rates as well as causing piglet and adult mortalities. The economic losses due to the disease burden and inadequate intervention strategies are current issues facing the pig production industry. The risk of zoonotic spread of influenza, trypanosomiasis, larva migrans, teniasis, mange, cryptosporidiosis, balantidiasis, ancylostomiasis, entamoebiasis and jigger fleas from affected pigs is real. Disease control strategies through the provision of veterinary resources and services need attention, and a paradigm shift is required for sustainability and expansion of the pig production capacity in the country.

The study of pathological conditions of the male reproductive system is paramount to understanding reproductive inefficiency in the Sahel goat. In this study, 1048 Sahel bucks presented for slaughter at the Maiduguri metropolitan abattoir were evaluated for the presence of various pathological abnormalities of the reproductive system. A total incidence of 15.08% was recorded for various pathological conditions, with testicular, penile, and scrotal conditions having incidences of 7.82%, 4.80 and 2.50%, respectively. Bilateral testicular hypoplasia and atrophy and unilateral cryptorchidism accounted for incidences of 4.10%, 2.38%, and 1.24%, respectively, while paraphimosis and scrotal laceration had incidences of 1.72% and 1.05%, respectively. Age specific incidence of pathological conditions were not significant(P>0.05)between bucks aged (P<0.05)incidence of pathological conditions than other age groups. Histopathological evidence of inflammation, degeneration, and atrophy was observed in the testes, while inflammatory changes were observed in the prepuce.

Sahel sheep and goats, under extensive or semi-intensive management in smallholder farms in semi-arid northeastern Nigeria (Maiduguri), were evaluated to determine the relationship between faecal egg count (FEC) and packed cell volume (PCV) with associated anaemia and whether concurrent haemoparasitic infections would confound the variables. Faecal and anticoagulated blood samples from Sahel sheep (n = 227) and goats (n = 415) were collected January–December 2006, after conjunctival colour was estimated as FAMACHA score (FS) as follows: red (1), red–pink (2), pink (3), pink–white (4) or white (5). Presumed level of helminth infection, based on FEC with modified McMaster technique, was graded as mild ( 1,500/g). Out of 642 animals, 276 (43.0 %) had helminth infection based on FEC. More goats (11.5 %) were severely infected than sheep (1.3 %). PCV was decreased by only severe helminth burden. FS correlated with PCV (r = −0.69, −0.86; p

In a survey at the Maiduguri metropolitan abattoir in northeastern Nigeria, between August and November 2009, Oesophagostomum columbianum nodules were found on the intestines of 702 (71.3 %) Sahel goats out of 984 examined. The nodules were predominantly located in the large intestines of most of the goats (96.4 %), but in heavy infections (3.6 %), the nodules extended into the small intestines and the omentum. The presence of nodules did not significantly (P > 0.05) increase the weight of the intestines of infected goats. Grossly the nodules were young (60 %), purulent (30 %) or calcified (10 %). Histologically the nodules appeared as granulomas with one or multiple necrotic foci. The infiltrating cells associated with the granulomas were eosinophils, neutrophils, macrophages, epithelioid macrophages and lymphocytes, but no multinucleated giant cell was found. The intestinal epithelium adjacent to the granuloma had intense lymphocytic infiltration into the lamina propria, necrosis and sloughing of the epithelial cells, stunting of the expanded villi and fewer intestinal glands. It was concluded that natural O. columbianum infection of Sahel goats was prevalent in the area and the infection caused non-suppurative enteritis associated with submucosal nodules which were granulomas lacking giant cells.

Concurrent outbreak of staphylococcal pneumonia with infectious bursal disease (IBD) occurred in 29-day-old broiler chickens. The outbreak started after a flock of 279 birds was decongested by moving 121 birds to another pen. The birds were depressed and weak before death and carcasses were cyanotic. At necropsy, the lungs were dark red, congested and consolidated; the bursa of Fabricius (BF) was enlarged; the liver was pale and the intestinal mucosa was hyperaemic. Histopathological examination of the lungs, BF and liver revealed fibrinopurulent pneumonia, purulent inflammation of the BF and hepatic lipidosis, respectively. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from the teased tissue of the lungs. The mortality was 35.8% within 5 days of the outbreak. The circumstances of the outbreak suggested that immunosuppression due to stress associated with crowding and transferring of the birds from one pen to another and poor seroconversion to previous infectious bursal disease virus vaccination, favoured the clinical establishment of the bacterial and IBD viral infections.

Trypanosoma brucei, Federe strain, caused an acute infection in rats after intraperitoneal inoculation of 106 trypanosomes. Parasitemia occurred from day 3 post-infection (pi) with peak parasitemia from day 7 pi. Anemia was observed between days 7 and 11 pi. The serum triglyceride concentration was comparable with the control value on day 7 pi, but increased (P 0.05) significantly during the infection. It was concluded that the decreased hepatic contents of these lipids were consistent with the serum lipid concentration, which did not seem to favor lipid uptake by hepatocytes.

Background Erythrocyte swelling in non-ionic sucrose media and the subsequent osmotic lysis are influenced by mechanisms of regulatory volume adjustment and osmotic water permeability. Kinetics of transmembrane water and ion fluxes in varied physiologic states may determine the phenotype of erythrocyte osmotic fragility (EOF) and affect estimates of EOF. Methods Effects of sex, age, late pregnancy (third trimester) and lactation on the haemolysis of Sahel goat erythrocytes incubated in a series of hyposmotic non-ionic sucrose media were investigated. Results The fragiligram was sigmoidal in 72 (97%) out of 74 goats. Two male (3%) goats with low and high extreme median erythrocyte fragilities (MEF), had non-sigmoidal curves. The mean fragilities at osmolarities of 30-300 mosmol/L of sucrose and the mean osmolarities responsible for 10%-90% haemolysis (CH10-CH90) were not significantly different between males and non-pregnant dry (NPD) females, amongst the age groups and between pregnant or lactating and NPD female goats. The MEF (CH50) of the goats were at osmolarities of 126-252 mosmol/L (median of data: 171 mosmol/L) with a mean of 175.24±16.20 mosmol/L. Therefore, phenotypic homogeneity of EOF occurred with minor deviance, since EOF variables were not differentiated by sex, age, late pregnancy or lactation. Conclusions Physiologic states of the goat did not affect EOF phenotype in non-ionic sucrose media. Sigmoidal fragility phenotype seemed to be homogeneously conserved by osmoregulatory mechanisms not partitioned by sex, age, late pregnancy or lactation, but a minor non-sigmoidal curve might have occurred due to altered erythrocyte osmotic behaviour that would require further investigation.

Un foyer de bursite infectieuse (IBD) est apparu en même temps qu'une colibacillose septicémique aiguë chez des poulettes âgées de 15 semaines. La septicémie a été précédée par une IBD subclinique. Dans ce foyer, la mortalité a commencé par des cas de septicémie et Escherichia coli a été isolé du sang du cœur des oiseaux. Après traitement antibiotique, les mortalités se sont poursuivies en augmen-tant, puis, après un pic, ont décliné et enfin ont cessé. L'IBD a été confirmée par des lésions des bourses caractérisées par une lymphocytose importante et une dégénération cystique des follicules lymphoïdes. Sur les 253 volailles, 42 (16,60 %) sont mortes dans une période de huit jours. Les éléments liés à ce foyer laissent à penser que l'absence de vaccination de rappel contre IBD a favorisé l'établissement d'IBD subclinique, diminuant fortement l'immunité et prédisposant les volailles à la septicémie colibacillaire.

An experimental study of proximal duodenal obstruction (PDO) was performed on five Borno White goats by surgically placing an obstructing ligature on the duodenum 6 cm distal to the pylorus. Three intact goats were the first controls and another three goats, which were laparotomized (sham treated), were the second controls. Goats with PDO were weak, anorexic and passed very scanty to no faeces 24 h after PDO. Mean packed cell volume was higher during PDO, but not significantly increased (P>0.05). Total plasma protein concentration was significantly decreased (P

Five non-pregnant healthy Yankasa ewes were deprived of water for 10 d with only one watering period during hot dry weather. On d 5, the mean body weight significantly (P 0.05) and mean plasma globulin, sodium (Na), chloride, urea, creatinine and cholesterol concentrations and urea-to-creatinine and cholesterol-to-glucose ratios were significantly (P 0.05), mean PCV and plasma K, bicarbonate and glucose concentrations and albumin-to-globulin ratio still did not vary significantly. Significant increases (P

The effects of aqueous extract of Hibiscus sabdariffa calyces on haematology and pathological changes in some selected organs during experimental Trypanosoma congolense infection of rats were investigated. Three groups of rats were intraperitoneally infected with T. congolense (Karu stock). One group was administered with the aqueous extract and another given a solution of vitamin C in drinking water; the remaining infected group was left untreated. Data from these groups were compared with those of two groups of healthy rats, one of which was similarly treated with the aqueous extract. The experiment was terminated three weeks, post-infection (pi). The uninfected and infected rats administered the extract consumed the equivalent of 9.94 mg - and 9.61 mg ascorbic acid / 100g / day during the experiment. Consumption of the extract significantly (p

Serum ketone and total protein concentrations of 966 cattle slaughtered at the metropolitan abattoir, Maiduguri, Nigera, were estimated durng the dry and rainy months of the year. None of the sera had a titrable ketone concentration. Serum total protein (STP) concentration of Keywords : Nigeria, Sahel region, Cattle, Serum ketones, Serum total protein, Undernutrition

Four groups (A, B, C and D) of 10 rats were used to determine the effect of comparatively high doses of diminazene aceturate on diminazene aceturate-resistant Trypanosoma brucei and the pathogenic effect of relapse infection. Group A rats were uninfected (controls) while group B, C and D rats were inoculated intraperitoneally with 0.5 x 10 (6) diminazene aceturate-resistant T. brucei and treated with diminazene aceturate at 14.0, 17.5 and 21.0mg/kg body weight, respectively, on day 14 post-infection (PI) as a single intraperitoneal injection. Prepatent periods and also levels of parasitaemia were comparable in groups B, C and D. Packed cell volume (PCV) decreased in the infected groups by day 14 PI and returned to pre-infection values by day 63 post-treatment (PT). Anaemia was comparable in groups B, C and D. Relapse parasitaemia occurred in six rats in group B on day 70 PT and in five rats in each of groups C and D on day 77 PT. The PCV of the rats with relapse infection decreased progressively up to day 105 PT, when the experiment was terminated, whereas the PCV of rats without relapse did not. The levels of anaemia and parasitaemia on day 14 post-relapse were significantly higher (P

The effect of clinical mastitis (unilateral, n=10 and bilateral, n=90) on the morphometry of mammary glands of Sahel goats was evaluated in comparison with those of apparently normal glands (n=20). The mammary glands were examined at slaughter and glandular measurements such as; glandular weight (GW), glandular mid circumference (GMC), glandular longitudinal length (GLL) and glandular teat lengths (GTL) were measured using a measuring tape. Tissue samples of the mammary gland were collected preserved in 10% buffered formalin, processed, embedded, section and stained with H&E and observed under light microscope at various magnifications for presence of pathological lesions. The mean GW was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in normal glands relative to the unilateral and bilateral mastitis. Mean GLL was significantly higher (p

Trypanosoma brucei, Wamba strain, produced an acute infection in mice, and mortality was observed 2 days after the onset of parasitaemia which occurred 3–5 days postinfection. Anaemia was observed in the tail blood of the survivors. When washed erythrocytes from the heart blood were incubated in physiological saline containing 1.5% hydrogen peroxide, the erythrocytes of the infected mice produced significantly greater amounts of by-products of lipid peroxidation (measured as thiobarbituric acid reactive substances) than the erythrocytes of the control mice. This observation suggested that the infected mice may have a reduced ability in the prevention of free radical mediated lipid peroxidation in the erythrocyte membrane. It is concluded that peroxidative injury to the erythrocytes may contribute to the pathogenesis of anaemia in trypanosomosis.

Une enquête sur la tuberculose chez le bétail a été réalisée dans quatre abattoirs situés à Maiduguri, Damboa, Damaturu et Gashua au nord-est du Nigeria, de 1994 à 1998. Sur un total de 1 698 000 bovins abattus examinés post mortem, 2,8 (intervalle de confiance de 95 p. 100 : 2,76–2,84) avaient des lésions tuberculeuses pulmonaires. La prévalence a varié de 1,9 p. 100 à l’abattoir de Damaturu à 20 p. 100 à celui de Damboa. Les prévalences annuelles durant la période de l’étude ont varié de 2,3 à 4,7 p. 100. Les prévalences mensuelles ont révélé de prévalences sporadiques élevées au-delà du seul endémique. En conclusion, il a été trouvé que la tuberculose bovine était encore endémique dans cette région et des indications ont montré qu’elle avait atteint des proportions épidémiques dans la zone de Damboa. Il est donc nécessaire que le gouvernement fédéral prenne et mette en oeuvre des mesures de lutte afin de limiter la propagation de la maladie dans les cheptels bovins et sa transmission à l’homme.

Trypanosoma vivax produced a progressive macrocytic normochromic anaemia in sheep during the acute phase of infection. Reticulocytes were absent from the blood of healthy sheep and of sheep with T. vivax -induced anaemia. However, anaemia induced artificially (AHA) in sheep by in vitro heat treatment of red cells, which was comparable in classification and degree to the anaemia of T. vivax infection, produced a reticulocytosis of 1·5 ± 1·0 per cent. When plasma from the anaemic blood of sheep infected with T. vivax for two and four weeks was inoculated subcutaneously into mice, the reticulocyte response was similar to that of mice that received no sheep plasma and inferior to that elicited by normal sheep plasma. The anaemic plasma from sheep infected with T. vivax for three weeks induced a moderate reticulocyte response in mice which was, however, less intense than that induced by plasma from sheep with artificially induced anaemia of comparable intensity. These results indicate that, although the macrocytosis suggests that T. vivax -induced anaemia in sheep is slightly responsive, this response is suboptimal since reticulocytes were lacking in the blood of the sheep and their plasma was weakly erythrogenic in mice. This contrasts with the mild reticulocytosis in sheep with AHA of the same intensity and classification, whose plasma also stimulated considerable erythropoiesis in mice. The poor stimulation by plasma from T. vivax -infected sheep at two and four weeks post-infection suggests subnormal erythropoietin at these periods of infection.