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The effective use of plant derivatives as anthelmintics is often overlooked due to their toxicity. Hence the objective of this work was to evaluate the toxicity of ginger powder used as an anthelmintic in pigs. A total of 24 pigs were randomly allocated to four treatment groups and infected with 2650L3 mixed nematode larvae. The negative control (T0-) was not treated. The positive control (T0+) was treated with Mebendazole. T1 and T2 groups were treated with 12.5g/kg and 25g/kg of ginger crude powder respectively. The animals were followed for 4 weeks during which fecal and blood samples were collected for coprological and haemato-biochemical analyses. T2 group had the highest faecal egg count reduction (FECR) of 92.3% followed by T1 and T0+ groups with a FECR of 86.4% and 58.5% respectively. T0- animals recorded the highest levels of creatinine, ALAT, ASAT, Total cholesterol and albumin compared to treated animals. T2 group recorded the lowest levels of urea, total protein, albumin, ALAT, ASAT, Total cholesterol and globulin and all the values were within the normal range. Similarly, T1 group obtained normal values of cholesterol, ASAT and ALAT. Blood parameters were not affected by treatments, apart from platelets (359.50 x103/ μL) which were significantly (p≤0.05) higher in T2 group. In conclusion, half (12.5g/kg) and full (25g/kg) dose of ginger powder were not toxic but rather improved the renal and hepatic functions. Therefore, treatment with 25g/kg of ginger powder can be recommended for effective and safe use in the treatment of gastrointestinal nematodes in pigs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

African swine fever (ASF), erysipelas and many other infectious and parasitic diseases have seriously compromised the future of pig industry in the Western Highlands of Cameroon. Since implementation of biosecurity measures (BM) is known to reduce the risk of disease transmission, the objective of this study was to describe the pig farming management system as well as the biosecurity practices on pig farms in the Western Highlands of Cameroon. Therefore, 97 farms were investigated using a face‐to‐face interview‐based questionnaire. Biosecurity practices were divided in three components: isolation, traffic control and sanitation. The results revealed that the majority of farms were extensive (73.22%), farrow‐to‐finish farms (59.79%) and essentially raising crossed‐bred (72.75%). The most practiced BM regarding 'isolation' were as follows: maintenance of the minimum distance between farms (56.06%) and dispatching of animals of same age in the same room (97.16%); for 'traffic control', the measures included the following: assignment of specific tools and equipment (96.86%) to a specific piggery; concerning 'sanitation', daily cleaning (97.06%), as well as using disinfectants (89.13%) were mostly implemented. The measures less implemented for 'isolation' included fencing (11.83%), compliance with the all‐in all‐out principle (10.11%), use of specific clothing (6.03%) and quarantine (7.69%); for 'traffic control', the less adopted measures comprised visitor hands washed before animal handling (11.65%), respect of linear flow principle (13.52%). Concerning 'sanitation', these measures included functional footbath (29.90%), processing of drinking water (27.84%) and cleanout (18.14%). The biosecurity level was low, intermediate and high for 73.71, 21.55 and 4.73% of farms, respectively. This low level suggests that ASF and other diseases are likely to remain endemic. The most important measures of concern and to improve are as follows: not feeding kitchen waste to pigs; keeping other livestock species away from pigs; fencing pig barn; keeping newly arrived animals in quarantine, not exchanging boars; not selling sick animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The epidemiology of avian influenza is unknown in Cameroon despite the two outbreaks that occurred in 2006 and 2016-2017, respectively. In order to fill the gap, an attempt was made to provide some basic information on the epidemiology of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Cameroon. Thus, data were collected from follow-up reports of the second HPAI outbreaks prepared by the veterinary health officials of Cameroon and sent to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). Two HPAI virus strains (H5N1 and H5N8) turned out to occur, with H5N1 virus involved in the Center, South, West, and Adamawa regions outbreaks and H5N8 involved in the Far North outbreak only. The affected hosts were the laying hens, backyard chickens, turkeys, guinea fowls, ducks, broiler and layer breeders, and geese for the H5N1 virus and the Indian peafowl (Pavo cristatus), pigeon, ducks, backyard chickens, and guinea fowls for the H5N8 virus. The first outbreak took place in Mvog-Betsi poultry complex in the Center region on the 20th May 2016 and spread to other regions. The mortality rate varied from 8% to 72% for H5N1 virus and was 96.26% for the H5N8 strain in Indian peafowl. No human case was recorded. The potential supporting factors for disease dissemination identified on the field were the following: poultry and eggs dealers moving from one farm, market, or town to another without any preventive care; poor biosecurity measures on farms and live poultry markets. After the first HPAI H5N1 virus outbreak in 2006, the second HPAI outbreak ten years later (2016-2017) involving two virus strains is a cause of concern for the poultry industry. The Cameroon Epidemio-Surveillance Network needs to be more watchful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study on the acaricidal properties of foam soap containing the essential oil of Chenopodium ambrosioides leaves was carried out on Rhipicephalus lunulatus. Four doses (0.03, 0.06, 0.09, and 0.12 µL of essential oil per gram of soap) and a control (soap without essential oil) with four replications for each treatment were used for in vitro trial. Each replication consisted of 10 ticks in a Petri dish with filter paper impregnated with the foam soap on the bottom. Following in vitro trials, three doses (0.06, 0.09, and 0.12 µL/g) and the control in two replications were selected for in vivo test based on mortality rate recorded from the in vitro trial. Each replication was made up of 10 goats naturally infested with ticks. Results show that soap containing essential oil is toxic to R. lunulatus. The in vivo mortality rate in the control on day 8 was 22.69% whereas the highest dose (0.12 µL/g) killed 96.29% of the ticks on day 8. The LD50 of the foam soap containing essential oil was 0.037 and 0.059 µL/g on day 2 in the laboratory and on the farm, respectively. This indicates the potentially high efficiency of this medicated soap on this parasite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]