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La recolte des semences de Acacia auriculiformis devient tres difficile lorsque l’arbre prend de l’âge. Cette etude a evalue la viabilite et la performance de germination des semences de cette espece eventuellement conservees dans le sol. A cet effet, une experimentation a ete faite sur une periode de sept semaines pour denombrer le nombre de plantules en emergence a partir des echantillons composites de sol collectes dans une vieille plantation de Acacia auriculiformis au Sud Benin. L’echantillonnage est stratifie, aleatoire sur le plan horizontal (provenance), mais systematique sur le plan vertical (profondeur). Les echantillons ont ete mis en conditions minimales de germination. La methode de germination a ete utilisee pour evaluer la viabilite et la performance de germination des semences. L’independance de ces parametres vis-a-vis des facteurs consideres a ete testee avec Khi-2. Enfin, les tendances observees ont ete expliquees par les modeles GLM. La profondeur et la provenance se revelent avoir des influences significatives sur les parametres mesures. Le sol de la plantation peut contenir jusqu’a 267 semences viables de Acacia auriculiformis par m² surtout a l’interieur de la plantation dans la premiere couche du sol. Il est possible de faire recours a ces semences du sol pour pallier les difficultes liees a l’approvisionnement en plants au Benin.The harvest of the seeds of Acacia auriculiformis becomes very difficult when the tree gets older. This study has assessed the viability, and the germination performance of the species’ seeds eventually conserved in the soil. For this purpose, an experiment was carried out over a period of seven weeks to count the number of seedlings emerging from the composite soil samples collected in an old plantation of Acacia auriculiformis in South Benin. Samples were randomly collected over a horizontally stratified scale (provenance), but systematically collected over a vertically stratified scale (depth). The samples have been set to minimum conditions of germination. Germination method was used to assess the viability and the germination performance of seeds. The independence of those parameters with regard to considered factors was tested with Khi-2. Finally, GLM models were used to explain the recorded trends. Depth and provenance seem both to significantly influence assessed parameters. Soil from the plantation can hold up to 267 viable seeds of Acacia auriculiformis per m² especially inside the plantation in the first layer of the ground. It is possible to rely on those soil’s seeds to alleviate the difficulties related to seedling supply in Benin.

The invasive character of Rhipicephalus microplus was observed in Benin, the second West-African country from which this ticks species has been collected after the initial confirmed record in Ivory Coast in 2007. A cross-sectional study was carried out in the Department of Mono to examine the presence of the tick R. microplus. The survey covered 9 herds (villages) in an agro-ecological zone inhabited by agro-pastoralists, including the State Farm of Kpinnou that imported Girolando cattle from Brazil. Almost 800 ticks were sampled from 36 cattle, on average four cattle per village. The morphological identification revealed ticks of two different genera: Rhipicephalus and Amblyomma. Rhipicephalus microplus was the only representative of the species previously known as Boophilus or blue ticks. Its taxonomic identity was confirmed molecularly by PCR-RFLP. A comparison was made with the situation of R. microplus in Brazil.

The cattle tick Rhipicephalus microplus is currently invading the West African region, and little information is available on the spread of this exotic tick in this region. We set out a country-wide field survey to determine its current distribution in Benin. Ticks were collected on cattle from 106 farms selected by random sampling covering all regions of the country. Rhipicephalus annulatus was found on 70 % of all farms, R. decoloratus on 42 %, R. geigyi on 58 %, and R. microplus on 49 %. There is a clear geographic separation between the indigenous Rhipicephalus species and R. microplus. Rhipicephalus annulatus occurs mainly in the northern departments, but it was also observed in lower numbers in locations in the south. The presence of R. decoloratus is limited to the northern region, and in most locations, this tick makes up a small proportion of the collected ticks. The tick R. geigyi tends to be dominant, but occurs only in the four northern departments. The observations concerning R. microplus are entirely different, this species occurs in the southern and central region. The results of this survey confirm the invasive character and displacement properties of R. microplus, since in less than a decade it has colonized more than half of the country and has displaced indigenous ticks of the same genus in many of the sampled locations.

Because of the favourable prognosis in patients with early stomach cancer even extensive vocational rehabilitation measures should be taken into consideration. Opposed to that is the fact that about 40% of these patients already exceed the age limit for employment and only 10% are younger than 45 years. The polymorbidity, too, is relatively high, 21% of our patients were not capable of employment already before the outbreak of their cancer disease. The postgastrectomy syndrome prevents 40% from resuming work within the first postoperative year and jeopardizes the working capacity even after that time, at least in patients with manual occupations.