Vol 7, No 3 2006: African Scientist

The causal organism(s), and percentage infection of thread blight disease observed on some tea stands established in 1985 at the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN), Ibadan, experimental plot was investigated for a period of one year (12 months). For the first months, the percentage infection ranges between 41.4% and 47.9%. Out of three fungi isolated (Botryodiplodia theobromae, Fusarium sp. and Marasmius pulcher) only M. pulcher produced the characteristic symptom observed in the field.

Gallstone disease (GSD) is one of the commonest gastrointestinal diseases seen in clinical practice. Cholesterol and triglycerides are established principal constituents of the majority of gallstones, particularly in the Western world. This study was, therefore, embarked upon to examine the relationship between gallstone disease and serum lipids. One hundred normal adult Nigerians (50 males and 50 females) underwent real time ultrasonography (USS) to determine the relationship between serum lipids (cholesterol and triglycerides) and gallstone disease.

One hundred type 2 diabetic patients and 100 age and sex matched controls underwent real time ultrasonography to determine the effect of type 2 diabetes mellitus on fasting gallbladder volume. The mean gallbladder volume of diabetic patients was 27.6 ± 15.4 ml compared with 24.3 ± 12.8 ml in non-diabetic controls (P > 0.05). It is suggested that type 2 diabetes mellitus could be a risk factor for increased fasting gallbladder volume in Nigerians.

The ethnomedicinal use of Ocimum gratissimum was valued against some socio-economic features which include household size, educational status, farm size holdings and economic status. Results obtained revealed that respondents as prerequisites did not consider these features to their consciousness to the efficacy of the extracts and its relative affordability. At present, households, homesteads and farms constitute the major primary and secondary sources respectively.

120 fingerlings of Clarias gariepinus were fed five different experimental 35% isoproteic diets, a control (0% water hyacinth) and four diets containing different levels of water hyacinth (10%, 20%, 30% and 40%) in place of fish meal as protein source at %% of the body weight for 70 days under laboratory condition. The study revealed a decrease in the growth performance indices as the level of water hyacinth increases.

The land mollusc fauna in a single square kilometer of undisturbed tropical rainforest in Okomu National Park, Edo State, Nigeria was surveyed by sampling thirty 20-m2 plots. Sampling methods were similar to those used in the rainforests in Cameroon and Sabah. Samples were collected by sieving leaf litter, topsoil and by hand picking within the forest floor or vegetation. A total of 1442 individual molluscs belonging to 46 species in 11 molluscan families were collected.

A total of 250 cattle claughtered at Maiduguri abattoir were examined, random sampling to ascertain the rate and level of meat condemnation due to fascioliasis, hydatidosis and cysticercosis. 202 (80.8%) of the cattle examined were confirmed positive for infection. Data on estimated losses in Naira equivalent and condemnation in weight (kg) showed that fascioliasis had 539.41kg, hydatidosis, 268.0kg and cysticercosis 483.19kg with an estimated economic value of N188, 804, N93, 800 and N169, 116 for fascioliasis, hydatidosis and cycticercosis respectively.

The anticoccidial efficacy of the aqueous neem leaf extract in comparison to amprolium showed that the aqueous extract dose of 800mg/kg compared favourably with 10mg/litre of amprolium in treating the disease, both showed 100% survival rates for infected and treated chickens with zero oocyst per gram at day 4 post treatment. Also, the mean weight (grams) of infected and treated chickens improved significantly (P<0.05) at day 7-post treatment.