Search

American bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera) is poly-phagous pest which infects major fiber, pulses and vegetable crops, e.g., cotton, soybean, chickpea, brinjal, tomato, peas, beans, okra, and chili in Pakistan. Farmers use the different dosage of insecticides to control American bollworm on various crops that might be due to the existence of genetically diverse American bollworm population. So, it is essential to explore and get an understanding of this genetic variation existing among American bollworm, feeding on different host plants. The current study was conducted to observe the genetic variation existing among seven American bollworm populations by RAPD-PCR system collected from host plant including cotton, pea, green bean, chili, green chili, tomato and okra. Overall, 210-bands were obtained from thirty RAPD primers, out of these, 34-bands were polymorphic, and 176-bands were monomorphic. PIC values ranged from 0.2149 to 0.5014, with a mean of 0.2838. Genetic similarity ranged from 92.38% (produced by cotton and peas) to 99.52% (produced by chili and green beans) and the genetic distance range from 0.48% to 7.92%. A most important result was the clustering of the population occurring on green bean, chili, green chili, tomato and okra in one cluster. In contrast, the population occurring on cotton and pea were designated separate clusters, respectively. These results showed that population occurring on cotton and pea were most dissimilar to other populations indicating that populations are closely related to each other. There might be an interspecific crossing frequency among these populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the wake of atrocious rise in COVID-19 cases, developed countries are leveraging a range of community pharmacy services with the goal of improving access to essential medication and healthcare services. While in the developing nations, including Pakistan, pharmacists are unable to perform COVID-19 containment roles in community, since presence of pharmacists at community pharmacy settings and delivery of pharmacy services have historically been plagued by shortcomings at various levels. In this document, we identified these shortcomings which need to be resolved on many fronts. Broadly, a number of intertwined government related, public related, academic curricula and pharmacist related, and drug retailers' related factors refrain community pharmacists from performing and facilitating Pakistan's fragile public and healthcare system in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic. Government led multifaceted approaches are urgently needed to strengthen this unrecognized domain and thereby effectively combat COVID-19 by utilizing community pharmacy services, as evidenced in the developed world. [Note: Part of this article is published in Pakistan Observer Newspaper; dated 17 May 2020). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was designed to assess the incidence of aflatoxin contamination in animal feed and raw milk samples (total 240 each) collected from dairy farms during the complete year of 2015. These samples were collected through a cluster random sampling technique by dividing the province of Punjab, Pakistan into five clusters (north, south, east, west and central). Factors (environmental & physical) affecting aflatoxin contamination in milk and animal feed at farms were also studied. The AFM1 levels in raw milk & AFB1 levels in feed samples were analyzed by using the ELISA technique. Results demonstrated that overall about 53% raw milk samples from dairy farms were contaminated beyond the US MRL (0.50 µg/L) for AFM1 with than average level of 0.59 µg/L, while the 95% farm feed samples were exceeding the FDA MRL (20 µg/kg) of AFB1 with average level of 43 µg/kg. During winter season, the concentration of AFM1 was higher in all clusters with avg 0.68 µg/L, while the AFB1 contamination was highest in the spring season with avg 54 µg/kg. Market feed prices had negative correlation with AFB1 contamilevels, which were further supported by the positive correlation between quantity of feed at farms with AFM1 and AFB1 contamination. Results exhibited significantly positive impact of environmental factors on milk and feed aflatoxin contamination levels, whereas temperature showed an inverse relationship with AFM1 and AFB1 levels. The study recommends need of synergistic extension work to support dairy farms and highlight the contamination levels for regulatory bodies to introduce strategic policies for control measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The manifestation of aflatoxins in feed and food is a major issue in the world as its presence leads to some health problems. This study investigates the incidence of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) contamination in raw milk samples which were collected from Punjab, Pakistan. The Cluster Random Sampling technique was used to collect 960 milk samples from five different regions, and samples were collected every month. The AFM1 level in raw milk was analyzed by the ELISA technique. The findings demonstrate that 70% of samples exceeded the United States permissible maximum residue limits (MRL 0.50 µg/L), with an overall AFM1 level that ranged from 0.3 to 1.0 µg/L. AFM1 contamination varied with the season: The highest average contamination was detected in winter (0.875 µg/L), followed by autumn (0.751 µg/L), spring (0.654 µg/L), and summer (0.455 µg/L). The Eastern region exhibited the highest average AFM1 contamination (0.705 µg/L). Milk samples from the Northern region were found to be widely contaminated, as 86.9% samples exceeded the US MRL, followed by the Eastern region, with 72.3% samples being contaminated with >0.5 µg/L AFM1. The study indicated that the raw milk supply chain was heavily contaminated. Recommendations and remedial measures need to be developed by regulatory authorities to improve the raw milk quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]