Twenty worm-free male West African dwarf (WAD) goats, 7-8 months of age, were used to study the e... more Twenty worm-free male West African dwarf (WAD) goats, 7-8 months of age, were used to study the effect of dietary protein on their response to mixed infections of trychostrongyles. The goats were divided into 4 groups (A-D), each containing 5 animals. Groups A and B were fed forages with concentrate feed containing 17.06% crude protein, whereas Groups C and D were fed forages alone. An escalating infection of 500 infective larvae (L3), 1000 L3, 2000 L3, and 4000 L3 was given consecutively at weeks 0, 1, 2, and 3, respectively, for 4 weeks to groups A and D. Patency and level of infection were monitored by carrying out fecal egg counts (FECs) twice weekly. All of the animals were humanely sacrificed 42 days aft er infection, and the abomasum and intestines were recovered and processed for worm recovery. The results showed that there was a positive correlation between the dietary protein and body weight gain and body condition score. However, the dietary protein had no significant (P ...
The effects of single and/or concurrent H. bakeri and T. brucei infections on water consumption o... more The effects of single and/or concurrent H. bakeri and T. brucei infections on water consumption of lactating and non-lactating mice were investigated. Pregnant mice were grouped into four (A, B, C and D) comprising of six animals per group. Groups A, B and C were either infected with H. bakeri or T. brucei alone or with both parasites together. Group D served as pregnant uninfected control while a different group (E) was used as non-pregnant and uninfected control. Packed cell volumes (PCV), faecal egg counts (FEC), worm burden and water consumption of the mice were determined. Mean live-weights of surviving offspring and their numbers were recorded. Infected animals had lower PCV compared to the controls. However, lactating mice infected with both parasites had the least PCV. Mortalities occurred in the dual infected groups. Worm burden and FEC of mice with concurrent infections were significantly higher than that of the H. bakeri-only infected mice. Lactating mice consumed signifi...
Animals (especially grazing livestock) that move about are commonly exposed to drinking water con... more Animals (especially grazing livestock) that move about are commonly exposed to drinking water contaminated with inorganic fertilizers that run off from farmlands. This study therefore investigated the effects of contamination of drinking water with low sub-lethal levels of NPK:15-15-15 fertilizer on body weights (BW), weight gain (WG), daily feed consumption (DFP), daily water consumption (DWP) and relative organ weight percentages (ROWP). 30 male albino rats of 10 – 11 weeks of age, divided into five groups (groups I, II, III, IV & V) of 6 rats each were used for the study. After obtaining the baseline values (week 0 values) for BW, DFP & DWP, the rats were given the following group-specific drinking waters contaminated with NPK:15-15-15 at the following level for 13 weeks: group I – 2%, group II – 1%, group III – 0.5% & group IV – 0.1%. Group V served as the control which was given clean un-contaminated water. Thereafter, the BW, DFP & DWP were re-assessed to obtain the week 13 va...
In HIV-1-infected children, haematological disturbances include bone marrow abnormalities and per... more In HIV-1-infected children, haematological disturbances include bone marrow abnormalities and peripheral cytopenias. All three major cell lineages can be depressed. A cross-sectional study of baseline haematological parameters was undertaken in 68 children with confirmed HIV infection. In all cases, a complete blood count was done and some had CD4+ counts and HIV RNA PCR. The CD4+ count was analysed by the Coulter manual latex particle monoclonal antibody method and HIV RNA PCR by Roche Amplicor Monitor, version 1.5. Anaemia (< 100 g/L) was present in 77.9%, severe (< 60 g/L) in 5.9%, moderate (60-70 g/L) in 32.3% and mild (80-99 g/L) in 39.7%. The mean haemoglobin concentration decreased as disease progressed (p < 0.05); 6% had leucopenia, 17.5% had neutropenia and 2.5% (one case) had thrombocytopenia; also, the four (6%) subjects with leucopenia were in clinical stages B and C. Neutropenia, lymphocytopenia and thrombocytopenia were seen more in clinical stages B and C, though this relationship was not statistically significant. Both the erythroid and other cells lines are affected by HIV/AIDS and other associated factors. Anaemia is the most common haematological abnormality. The severity of peripheral cytopenias is related to the disease burden.
To investigate correlates of resistance to GI nematode infection in Nigerian West African dwarf (... more To investigate correlates of resistance to GI nematode infection in Nigerian West African dwarf (WAD) sheep. Thirty three sheep were randomly assigned to two groups, A (n=27) which were used for experimental infections, and B (n=6) which served as uninfected control. Each infected animal received weekly escalating infections with infective larvae (60%Haemonchus contortus (H. contortus) and 40%Trichostrongylus colubriformis (T. colubriformis) for 4 weeks. The responses of all the infected and control sheep were assessed by faecal egg count (FEC), worm burden (Wb), packed cell volume (PCV), body weight (Bwt), and body condition score (BCS). On the basis of their individual faecal egg output, Lambs in group A with epg ≤1,000 on any sampling day were classified as low faecal egg count (LFEC) phenotype (n=16), those with epg between 1,000 and 10,000 as intermediate (n=5) and lambs with epg > 10,000 as high feacal egg count (HFEC) phenotype (n=6). The difference between the FEC classes was highly significant (P=0.001). The BCS and weight gained at the end of the experiment by the control and LFEC sheep was significantly higher (P≤0.05) than those of the intermediate and HFEC phenotypes. There was a significant and negative correlation between the parasitological measures and the trio of BCS, PCV and Bwt of sheep. The result of the study indicated that the FEC, weight gain, PCV, and BCS are correlates and potential selection criteria of GI nematode resistant WAD sheep.
Weekly changes in body condition scores and body weights were determined in West African Dwarf sh... more Weekly changes in body condition scores and body weights were determined in West African Dwarf sheep following trickle exposure to weekly escalating mixed infections with Haemonchus contortus and Trichostrongylus colubriformis starting with single doses of 500 infective larvae (L(3)) at wk1, 1000 L(3) at wk2, 2000 L(3) at wk3 and 4000 L(3) at wk4. Thirty-three animals were randomly assigned to two groups namely, Group 1 (n=27) and Group 2 (n=6). Group 1 animals were used for experimental infections and Group 2 animals served as uninfected controls. Body condition scores (BCS), body weights (BW), faecal egg counts (FEC) per gram of faeces and worm burden (Wb) were determined using standard procedures. Lambs in group 1 with epg ≤ 1000 were classified as strong responders (n=16), those with epg between 1000 and 10,000 as intermediate (n=5) and lambs with epg>10,000 on any sampling day were classified as weak responders (n=6). Based on this classification, the mean epg of lambs classified as strong responders was significantly lower (P<0.001) than the epg of lambs classified as weak responders. The body condition scores and body weights of the strong responder lambs were comparable with those of the uninfected control and they were significantly higher than those of the weak and intermediate responders from wk5 till the end of the experiment. There was an inverse and significant relationship between the average BCS of days 56 and 59 and the average FEC of days 56 and 59 (r(s)=-572; P=0.017; n=27) as well as with Wb (r(s)=-531; P=0.028; n=27). We concluded that changes in the body scores are good indicators of the intensity of gastrointestinal nematode infection in the Nigerian WAD sheep.
The responses of the Nigerian West African Dwarf sheep to experimental infections with two of its... more The responses of the Nigerian West African Dwarf sheep to experimental infections with two of its most important gastrointestinal (GI) nematodes, namely, Haemonchus contortus and Trichostrongylus colubriformis were studied by means of two measures of parasitological response, namely, faecal egg count (FEC) and worm burden (Wb), and three measures of host pathology, namely, packed cell volume (PCV), body weight (Bwt) and body condition score (BCS). Following exposure to weekly escalating infections (60% H. contortus and 40% T. colubriformis) starting with single doses of 500 infective larvae (L(3)) at week 1, 1,000 L(3) at week 2, 2,000 L(3) at week 3 and 4,000 L(3) at week 4, two distinctive worm burden response phenotypes were readily recognisable, namely, low Wb (LWb) and high Wb (HWb) phenotypes. The percentage of inoculums (adults and immature stages) recovered at necropsy were 3.75% and 33.08% respectively for H. contortus and T. colubriformis. The results showed that the FECs of the lambs belonging to the LWb phenotype were significantly lower than the FECs of their HWb counterpart. Among the measures of host pathology tested, the LWb phenotype sheep had similar Bwt, PCV and BCS to the uninfected control sheep, whereas the HWb phenotype sheep had significantly lower values than their LWb counterparts and the control sheep towards the end of the experiment. There was a highly significant positive correlation between worm burden transformed as log(10) (Wb + 10) and the average of D56 and D59 FECs. A highly significant negative correlation also was obtained between log(10) (Wb + 10) and the PCV, Bwt and BCS. The low percentage of H. contortus inoculums recovered at necropsy suggested that the sheep may be resistant to their most important GI nematode, H. contortus but less so to T. colubriformis.
Faecal egg count reduction test was used to evaluate the efficacy of levamisole and ivermectin in... more Faecal egg count reduction test was used to evaluate the efficacy of levamisole and ivermectin in the control of bovine parasitic gastroenteritis in a part of Nigeria not previously surveyed. Ninety (90) randomly selected N'dama cattle from two herds in Nsukka, Enugu State of Nigeria, were studied. The animals were divided into two groups, namely, levamisole and ivermectin treatment groups. Faecal samples were collected prior to the administration of the respective anthelmintic and faecal egg count/gram of faeces determined. Post-treatment faecal samples were collected after 10 and 14 days of levamisole and ivermectin administration, respectively, and faecal egg count (FEC) determined. Thereafter, the faecal egg count reduction was calculated based on the formula [Formula: see text]. Pooled faecal samples for the respective treatment groups were cultured for larval identification and count. Pre-treatment FEC showed that the animals were readily infected with gastrointestinal nematodes with mean FEC of 233.0 ± 35.13 and 302.0 ± 19.94, respectively, for the levamisole- and ivermectin-treated groups. Post-treatment FEC of 0 was recorded for both groups, showing a 100% reduction of the pre-treatment faecal egg count. We concluded that the anthelmintics used in this work were very effective in the control of bovine parasitic gastroenteritis in the study areas, and no resistance was detected.
This study investigated the effects of sub-chronic contamination of drinking water with low sub-l... more This study investigated the effects of sub-chronic contamination of drinking water with low sub-lethal concentrations of inorganic fertilizer on some clinically significant blood biochemical indices of liver and kidney function. 50 male albino rats of 10 – 11 weeks of age were used for the study. They were divided into five groups (groups A – E) of 10 rats each and given drinking water experimentally contaminated with NPK:15-15-15 fertilizer at the level of 2%, 1%, 0.5%, 0.1% and 0% (uncontaminated control) w/v respectively for a period of 14 weeks. Relevant clinical biochemical tests of liver and renal function were carried out following standard procedures. Results showed that group A rats (2% fertilizer contamination) had a significantly lower (p<0.05) serum alanine amino transferase (ALT), aspartate amino transferase (AST) and fasting plasma glucose level (FPGL), and a
This study investigated the haematological abnormalities associated with contamination of drinkin... more This study investigated the haematological abnormalities associated with contamination of drinking water with low sub-lethal concentrations of inorganic fertilizer, because animals (especially grazing livestock) are commonly exposed to drinking water contaminated with inorganic fertilizers that run off from farmlands. 30 male albino rats of 10 – 11 weeks of age were used for the study. They were divided into five groups (groups A – E) of 6 rats each and given drinking water contaminated with NPK:15-15-15 fertilizer at the level of 2%, 1%, 0.5%, 0.1% and 0% (uncontaminated control) w/v respectively for a period of 90 days and haematological determinations were carried out following standard procedures. Results showed that group A, B & C rats had a significantly lower (p<0.05) packed cell volume (PCV) when compared to the group E (control). Group A rats also had a significantly lower (p<0.05) erythrocyte count (EC), haemoglobin concentration (HgbC), total leukocyte count (TLC), ...
Twenty worm-free male West African dwarf (WAD) goats, 7-8 months of age, were used to study the e... more Twenty worm-free male West African dwarf (WAD) goats, 7-8 months of age, were used to study the effect of dietary protein on their response to mixed infections of trychostrongyles. The goats were divided into 4 groups (A-D), each containing 5 animals. Groups A and B were fed forages with concentrate feed containing 17.06% crude protein, whereas Groups C and D were fed forages alone. An escalating infection of 500 infective larvae (L3), 1000 L3, 2000 L3, and 4000 L3 was given consecutively at weeks 0, 1, 2, and 3, respectively, for 4 weeks to groups A and D. Patency and level of infection were monitored by carrying out fecal egg counts (FECs) twice weekly. All of the animals were humanely sacrificed 42 days aft er infection, and the abomasum and intestines were recovered and processed for worm recovery. The results showed that there was a positive correlation between the dietary protein and body weight gain and body condition score. However, the dietary protein had no significant (P ...
The effects of single and/or concurrent H. bakeri and T. brucei infections on water consumption o... more The effects of single and/or concurrent H. bakeri and T. brucei infections on water consumption of lactating and non-lactating mice were investigated. Pregnant mice were grouped into four (A, B, C and D) comprising of six animals per group. Groups A, B and C were either infected with H. bakeri or T. brucei alone or with both parasites together. Group D served as pregnant uninfected control while a different group (E) was used as non-pregnant and uninfected control. Packed cell volumes (PCV), faecal egg counts (FEC), worm burden and water consumption of the mice were determined. Mean live-weights of surviving offspring and their numbers were recorded. Infected animals had lower PCV compared to the controls. However, lactating mice infected with both parasites had the least PCV. Mortalities occurred in the dual infected groups. Worm burden and FEC of mice with concurrent infections were significantly higher than that of the H. bakeri-only infected mice. Lactating mice consumed signifi...
Animals (especially grazing livestock) that move about are commonly exposed to drinking water con... more Animals (especially grazing livestock) that move about are commonly exposed to drinking water contaminated with inorganic fertilizers that run off from farmlands. This study therefore investigated the effects of contamination of drinking water with low sub-lethal levels of NPK:15-15-15 fertilizer on body weights (BW), weight gain (WG), daily feed consumption (DFP), daily water consumption (DWP) and relative organ weight percentages (ROWP). 30 male albino rats of 10 – 11 weeks of age, divided into five groups (groups I, II, III, IV & V) of 6 rats each were used for the study. After obtaining the baseline values (week 0 values) for BW, DFP & DWP, the rats were given the following group-specific drinking waters contaminated with NPK:15-15-15 at the following level for 13 weeks: group I – 2%, group II – 1%, group III – 0.5% & group IV – 0.1%. Group V served as the control which was given clean un-contaminated water. Thereafter, the BW, DFP & DWP were re-assessed to obtain the week 13 va...
In HIV-1-infected children, haematological disturbances include bone marrow abnormalities and per... more In HIV-1-infected children, haematological disturbances include bone marrow abnormalities and peripheral cytopenias. All three major cell lineages can be depressed. A cross-sectional study of baseline haematological parameters was undertaken in 68 children with confirmed HIV infection. In all cases, a complete blood count was done and some had CD4+ counts and HIV RNA PCR. The CD4+ count was analysed by the Coulter manual latex particle monoclonal antibody method and HIV RNA PCR by Roche Amplicor Monitor, version 1.5. Anaemia (&lt; 100 g/L) was present in 77.9%, severe (&lt; 60 g/L) in 5.9%, moderate (60-70 g/L) in 32.3% and mild (80-99 g/L) in 39.7%. The mean haemoglobin concentration decreased as disease progressed (p &lt; 0.05); 6% had leucopenia, 17.5% had neutropenia and 2.5% (one case) had thrombocytopenia; also, the four (6%) subjects with leucopenia were in clinical stages B and C. Neutropenia, lymphocytopenia and thrombocytopenia were seen more in clinical stages B and C, though this relationship was not statistically significant. Both the erythroid and other cells lines are affected by HIV/AIDS and other associated factors. Anaemia is the most common haematological abnormality. The severity of peripheral cytopenias is related to the disease burden.
To investigate correlates of resistance to GI nematode infection in Nigerian West African dwarf (... more To investigate correlates of resistance to GI nematode infection in Nigerian West African dwarf (WAD) sheep. Thirty three sheep were randomly assigned to two groups, A (n=27) which were used for experimental infections, and B (n=6) which served as uninfected control. Each infected animal received weekly escalating infections with infective larvae (60%Haemonchus contortus (H. contortus) and 40%Trichostrongylus colubriformis (T. colubriformis) for 4 weeks. The responses of all the infected and control sheep were assessed by faecal egg count (FEC), worm burden (Wb), packed cell volume (PCV), body weight (Bwt), and body condition score (BCS). On the basis of their individual faecal egg output, Lambs in group A with epg ≤1,000 on any sampling day were classified as low faecal egg count (LFEC) phenotype (n=16), those with epg between 1,000 and 10,000 as intermediate (n=5) and lambs with epg &gt; 10,000 as high feacal egg count (HFEC) phenotype (n=6). The difference between the FEC classes was highly significant (P=0.001). The BCS and weight gained at the end of the experiment by the control and LFEC sheep was significantly higher (P≤0.05) than those of the intermediate and HFEC phenotypes. There was a significant and negative correlation between the parasitological measures and the trio of BCS, PCV and Bwt of sheep. The result of the study indicated that the FEC, weight gain, PCV, and BCS are correlates and potential selection criteria of GI nematode resistant WAD sheep.
Weekly changes in body condition scores and body weights were determined in West African Dwarf sh... more Weekly changes in body condition scores and body weights were determined in West African Dwarf sheep following trickle exposure to weekly escalating mixed infections with Haemonchus contortus and Trichostrongylus colubriformis starting with single doses of 500 infective larvae (L(3)) at wk1, 1000 L(3) at wk2, 2000 L(3) at wk3 and 4000 L(3) at wk4. Thirty-three animals were randomly assigned to two groups namely, Group 1 (n=27) and Group 2 (n=6). Group 1 animals were used for experimental infections and Group 2 animals served as uninfected controls. Body condition scores (BCS), body weights (BW), faecal egg counts (FEC) per gram of faeces and worm burden (Wb) were determined using standard procedures. Lambs in group 1 with epg ≤ 1000 were classified as strong responders (n=16), those with epg between 1000 and 10,000 as intermediate (n=5) and lambs with epg&gt;10,000 on any sampling day were classified as weak responders (n=6). Based on this classification, the mean epg of lambs classified as strong responders was significantly lower (P&lt;0.001) than the epg of lambs classified as weak responders. The body condition scores and body weights of the strong responder lambs were comparable with those of the uninfected control and they were significantly higher than those of the weak and intermediate responders from wk5 till the end of the experiment. There was an inverse and significant relationship between the average BCS of days 56 and 59 and the average FEC of days 56 and 59 (r(s)=-572; P=0.017; n=27) as well as with Wb (r(s)=-531; P=0.028; n=27). We concluded that changes in the body scores are good indicators of the intensity of gastrointestinal nematode infection in the Nigerian WAD sheep.
The responses of the Nigerian West African Dwarf sheep to experimental infections with two of its... more The responses of the Nigerian West African Dwarf sheep to experimental infections with two of its most important gastrointestinal (GI) nematodes, namely, Haemonchus contortus and Trichostrongylus colubriformis were studied by means of two measures of parasitological response, namely, faecal egg count (FEC) and worm burden (Wb), and three measures of host pathology, namely, packed cell volume (PCV), body weight (Bwt) and body condition score (BCS). Following exposure to weekly escalating infections (60% H. contortus and 40% T. colubriformis) starting with single doses of 500 infective larvae (L(3)) at week 1, 1,000 L(3) at week 2, 2,000 L(3) at week 3 and 4,000 L(3) at week 4, two distinctive worm burden response phenotypes were readily recognisable, namely, low Wb (LWb) and high Wb (HWb) phenotypes. The percentage of inoculums (adults and immature stages) recovered at necropsy were 3.75% and 33.08% respectively for H. contortus and T. colubriformis. The results showed that the FECs of the lambs belonging to the LWb phenotype were significantly lower than the FECs of their HWb counterpart. Among the measures of host pathology tested, the LWb phenotype sheep had similar Bwt, PCV and BCS to the uninfected control sheep, whereas the HWb phenotype sheep had significantly lower values than their LWb counterparts and the control sheep towards the end of the experiment. There was a highly significant positive correlation between worm burden transformed as log(10) (Wb + 10) and the average of D56 and D59 FECs. A highly significant negative correlation also was obtained between log(10) (Wb + 10) and the PCV, Bwt and BCS. The low percentage of H. contortus inoculums recovered at necropsy suggested that the sheep may be resistant to their most important GI nematode, H. contortus but less so to T. colubriformis.
Faecal egg count reduction test was used to evaluate the efficacy of levamisole and ivermectin in... more Faecal egg count reduction test was used to evaluate the efficacy of levamisole and ivermectin in the control of bovine parasitic gastroenteritis in a part of Nigeria not previously surveyed. Ninety (90) randomly selected N&#39;dama cattle from two herds in Nsukka, Enugu State of Nigeria, were studied. The animals were divided into two groups, namely, levamisole and ivermectin treatment groups. Faecal samples were collected prior to the administration of the respective anthelmintic and faecal egg count/gram of faeces determined. Post-treatment faecal samples were collected after 10 and 14 days of levamisole and ivermectin administration, respectively, and faecal egg count (FEC) determined. Thereafter, the faecal egg count reduction was calculated based on the formula [Formula: see text]. Pooled faecal samples for the respective treatment groups were cultured for larval identification and count. Pre-treatment FEC showed that the animals were readily infected with gastrointestinal nematodes with mean FEC of 233.0 ± 35.13 and 302.0 ± 19.94, respectively, for the levamisole- and ivermectin-treated groups. Post-treatment FEC of 0 was recorded for both groups, showing a 100% reduction of the pre-treatment faecal egg count. We concluded that the anthelmintics used in this work were very effective in the control of bovine parasitic gastroenteritis in the study areas, and no resistance was detected.
This study investigated the effects of sub-chronic contamination of drinking water with low sub-l... more This study investigated the effects of sub-chronic contamination of drinking water with low sub-lethal concentrations of inorganic fertilizer on some clinically significant blood biochemical indices of liver and kidney function. 50 male albino rats of 10 – 11 weeks of age were used for the study. They were divided into five groups (groups A – E) of 10 rats each and given drinking water experimentally contaminated with NPK:15-15-15 fertilizer at the level of 2%, 1%, 0.5%, 0.1% and 0% (uncontaminated control) w/v respectively for a period of 14 weeks. Relevant clinical biochemical tests of liver and renal function were carried out following standard procedures. Results showed that group A rats (2% fertilizer contamination) had a significantly lower (p<0.05) serum alanine amino transferase (ALT), aspartate amino transferase (AST) and fasting plasma glucose level (FPGL), and a
This study investigated the haematological abnormalities associated with contamination of drinkin... more This study investigated the haematological abnormalities associated with contamination of drinking water with low sub-lethal concentrations of inorganic fertilizer, because animals (especially grazing livestock) are commonly exposed to drinking water contaminated with inorganic fertilizers that run off from farmlands. 30 male albino rats of 10 – 11 weeks of age were used for the study. They were divided into five groups (groups A – E) of 6 rats each and given drinking water contaminated with NPK:15-15-15 fertilizer at the level of 2%, 1%, 0.5%, 0.1% and 0% (uncontaminated control) w/v respectively for a period of 90 days and haematological determinations were carried out following standard procedures. Results showed that group A, B & C rats had a significantly lower (p<0.05) packed cell volume (PCV) when compared to the group E (control). Group A rats also had a significantly lower (p<0.05) erythrocyte count (EC), haemoglobin concentration (HgbC), total leukocyte count (TLC), ...
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