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The objective of this study was to determine the influence of handling method and season on water holding capacity, weight loss, cooking loss and colour of retail beef. Four handling methods which corresponded to the commercial methods of handling retail meat were selected. They were beef sample kept uncovered on the butchers table (Treatment A); beef sample kept uncovered and under room temperature but not on the butcher’s table in order to prevent customers from handling it (Treatment B); beef sample exposed to sunlight (Treatment C); and beef sample kept on top of ice in a covered cooler (Treatment D). Samples were kept from 09.00 hrs till 18.00 hrs on sampling days. The experiment was replicated 3 times in each of the two seasons (rainy and dry seasons), with an interval of 7 days between sampling. Percentage water holding capacity (% WHC) was neither affected by season nor handling method (P>0.05). However, the mean % WHC for the rainy season beef samples was slightly higher than that for the dry season counterparts. Percentage weight loss (% WL) showed significant differences (P

Morning (9-10 am) blood samples collected through the wing veins of six males and six females clinically healthy adult ducks (Cairina moschata) were used to study the hematological profile and serum chemistry of southeastern Nigerian ducks. Packed cell volume (PCV) and hemoglobin concentration (HBC) means were 46.00 ± 1.73%, 41.17 ± 3.13% and 15.67 ± 0.29 g%, 14.17 ± 1.13 g% for drakes and ducks respectively indicating significant differences (P< 0.01) between male and female values. Mean erythrocytes sedimentation rate (ESR) of the drakes (1.63 ± 0.35 mm/hr.) was significantly different (P< 0.05) from the 1.95 ± 0.30 mm/hr observed in the ducks. Male and female blood coagulation time (BCT) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) values were 1.55 ± 1.00 and 1.85 ± 11.05 seconds and 34.07 ± 1.01%, 34.42 ± 2.13% respectively. Leukocyte count indicated no significant difference (P> 0.05) between the males and females. Again, hetrophils and lymphocytes counts did not reveal significant differences (P> 0.05) between the male and female birds. The mean serum protein value of the females (12.07 ± 1.59/100 ml) was significantly higher (P< 0.01) than the 6.87 ± 0.42 g/100 ml recorded in males. Mean serum calcium and phosphorous levels were also significantly different (P< 0.01) at 7.43 ± 0.75 mg/dl, 8.52 ± 0.58 mg/dl and 3.20 ± 1.51 mg/dl, 7.98 ± 1.39 mg/dl in the males and females respectively.

Experiments were conducted to evaluate the anti-bacterial activity of Congronemalatifolium, a local plant used in ethno medicine among the local populations in Nigeria. The methanolic extract of Congronema latifolium leaf meal (CLLM) was tested against Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella spp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, E. coli, and Klebsiella spp. Determination of anti-bacterial activity was carried out using the procedures of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), and the zone of inhibition test (ZIT). P. aeruginosa and E. coli were the most sensitive to CLLM extract, with MIC of 15.625, MBC of 31.25mg/ml, and a ZIT score of 1.4 and 1.5cm, respectively, while the other test organisms exhibited minimal sensitivity. The results suggest that themethanolic extract of CLLM could be used as an organic antibiotic against some enteric organisms of monogastric animals.

A study was carried out to evaluate the performance and carcass characteristics of grower rabbits fed diets containing graded levels of Congronema latifolium (CLLM). Four experimental diets were formulated such that diet 1 (control) contained 0% CLLM, while diets 2, 3 and 4 contained 10%, 20% and 30% CLLM, respectively. Each diet was fed to a group of 9 grower rabbits for 49 days. There were no significant differences (P>0.05) for average final body weight gain and average daily feed intake. The feed conversion ratio was not significantly (P>0.05) affected by treatments.Also, there were no significant differences (P>0.05) among treatment means in dressing percentage, and percentage weights of some internal organs (hearts, lungs and pancreas). However, dietary levels of 20% and 30% CLLM significantly (P

Two hundred (200) five weeks old broiler birds of Anak breed from a commercial hatchery were used to investigate the effects of replacing soybean meal with pigeon pea meal in finisher broilers. The birds were fed on 0, 50, 75 and 100% dietary inclusions of toasted pigeon pea as replacement for soybean in a 28 day feeding trial. Significant interaction between dietary levels of pigeon pea and soybean were observed on feed efficiency and weight gain (p

Resistance of three line crosses of broiler chickens to challenges with three species of Eimeria (E. tenella, E. maxima and E. acervulina) as measured by body weight gain, feed efficiency, pigmentation, liveability and faecal scores were compared in this study. Mild infections of E. acervulina, E. tenella and E. maxima produced growth depression from the infection during the first week post inoculation (pi). Differences in body weight gains at 7 days pi between the infected broiler strains (A x A verses B x A and D x D versus D x D) were significant (p0.05). The uninfected birds had significantly better liveability (p0.05). Feed efficiency for the entire period, D – 2 to D+14, for the three line crosses were best in the following order: B x A, D x D and A x A. The A x A line crosses had significantly more watery and bloody faces (p

The physiochemical and microbial analyses of municipal water supplies in Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria was carried out using water samples were collected from Otamiri River, waterworks yard and taps at Ikenegbu, Amakohia and Avu communities. The physical parameters results showed that all parameter were below World Health Organization/Federal Ministry of Environment (WHO/FME) standard with temperatures ranging from 27.1 to 28.3OC, pH 5.72 - 7.98, Total Dissolved Solid (TDS) 21 – 34 mg/L and Total Suspended Solid (TSS) 3 - 7 mg/L. The chemical results showed slight increase in iron from samples A2, A1, A and B (0.71 = 0.37) as against WHO/FME (0.3 cfu/100ml). The bacteriology results showed above WHO/FME maximum acceptable level of 5 - 10 variable bacteria count (cfu/100 ml), 0 - 2, total coliform count (cfu/100ml) and SSA (0 - 2) cfu /20mls > 300 to 8. The study showed that more attention was given to physicochemical treatment than bacteriological treatment. Serious attention should be given to bacteriological treatment for public health concern and safety to reduce outbreak of water borne diseases in the study area. Keywords: Municipal water, physiochemical quality, microbial profile, Nigeria

Water is everywhere but potable water that is safe and suitable for drinking and other human activities is not always available. This study evaluated the management of water resources and the consumers’ perception of the safety of municipal water supply by Imo State Water Board. Questionnaires, which served as primary data generation instruments and comprising of sex, age, status, employed, local government of domicile and twenty-one (21) questions on water resources management were administered in three Local Government Areas of the state, namely Owerri Municipal, Owerri North and Owerri West. The respondents agreed that they do have public water supply was not regular and adequately treated and this was attributed to lack of commitment on the part of the local and state governments. The major alternative sources of water were from boreholes, wells and groundwater. All respondents also agreed on some levels of contamination and pollution of these alternative sources of water. The respondents indicated that they have suffered one form of water-borne disease or another due to poor quality water supply. Serious attention should be paid to the treatment of water supplies in Owerri for public health safety to reduce or otherwise eradicate outbreak of water-borne diseases. Keywords: Municipal water, quality, consumers, water-borne disease, Nigeria

Research on the concentrations of pollutant gasses in tropical livestock buildings is needed in order to establish baselines for exposure limits in the context of animal and human welfare in tropical environments. Concentrations of aerial ammonia (NH3), nitrous oxide (NO2), flammable gas (methane, CH4), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen sulphide (H2S) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) were measured in selected intensively managed poultry pen at Port Harcourt area of Rivers State, Nigeria during late rainy season month of October. The Gasman hand held personal gas detectors that employed a catalytic bead sensor for flammable gas and electrochemical sensors for other gas measurements were used for the gas analyses. The poultry pen types studied were broilers (FA1, FA2, FA3, FA4 and FA5), layers (FB1, FB2, FB3 and FB4) and pullets (FC1, FC2 and FC3) pens. Environmental factors such as temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and moisture content of the litter as well as building dimensions were determined. Data obtained showed that the range of 16.5±4.18 to 18.3±4.18 to 18.3±1.63 ppm of CO obtained in FA2 and FA4 were significantly higher (p< 0.05) than those of other broiler pens. The 2.33±2.70 LEL of CH4 obtained in FA1 was significantly higher (p

Leaves of Euphorbia hirta used in traditional medicine for the treatments of boils, wounds and control of diarrhoea and dysentery were extracted by maceration in ethanol. The agar diffusion method wasused to determine the antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi and Bacillus subtilis at different concentrations while toxicological studies was carried out through intraperitoneal injection of albino rat with varying concentrations of the extract. Antibacterial sensitivity test indicated that the extract inhibited the growth of S. aureus, E. coli, B. subtilis and P. aeruginosa to varying degrees while S. typhi was notaffected. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), of the extract against E. coli, S aureus, P. aeruginosa and B. subtilis were 58.09, 22.55, 57.64 and 74.61 mg/ml respectively. Hematological analyses revealedthat there was no significant difference (p = 0.05) between the total red blood cells (RBC), white blood cells (WBC), hemoglobin (Hb) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) values of therats used as control and those treated with the different concentrations of the extract. Also, the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and mean corpuscular volume (MCV) values were significantly different at certain concentrations of the extract administered which indicates that the plant extract is heamatologically not toxic to rats. The plant extract was found to contain tannins, alkaloids and flavonoids which may be responsible for its antimicrobial properties. The results justify the traditional use of the plant in the treatment of sores, boils, wounds and control of dysentery and diarrhoea.

Between December 2001 and August 2002, a study on the prevalence of Parastrongylus cantonensis nematode infection in two edible land snails Achatina marginata and Achatina achatina were carried out in Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria. Of the 350 A. marginata examined, 209 (59.7%) were infected with a mean worm load of 27.2 larvae per snail. Similarly, 221 (61.1%) of 362 A. achatina examined had larvae of P. cantonensis with an intensity of 38.1 larvae per snail. The prevalence of Parastrongyliasis increased significantly with snail size (age) in both snails. There were seasonal fluctuations of infection intensities in both snails with peak intensities occurring during the rainy season, 43.9 larvae per snail in July and 55.8 larvae per snail in August for A. marginata and A. achatina respectively. The involvement of P. cantonensis in some diseases of man is highlighted. Keywords: Parastrongylus cantonensis; Achatina achatina; Achatina marginata; snail; public health; NigeriaAnimal Production Research Advances Vol. 2 (3) 2006: pp 183-188

Between September 2002 and February 2003, 614 samples collected from four large-scale and five small-scale farms, one turkey breeder farm and two hatcheries as well as five commercial feed brands and various feed ingredients in Imo state, Nigeria were analyzed for the presence of E. coli. Thereafter, isolates were screened for anti-microbial resistance profile against 17 antibiotics using the disc diffusion method. E. coli was isolated from 546 (88.9%) of the samples. Although prevalence rates were generally high across the different sources, figures for commercial feeds and feed ingredients were however relatively lower when compared with figures from farm sites and hatcheries. The overall mean resistance at the large-scale farms was 61.2% while that of the small-scale farms was 56.2%. Mean percentage resistance of isolates from the commercial turkey farm was low at 23.3%. Across the hatcheries, the 70.0% recorded in isolates from dead-in-shell poults at hatchery 1 (H1) was the highest, while the 48.0% recorded in isolates from unhatched chicks at hatchery 2 (H2) was lowest. Relatively lower mean percentage resistance figures (19.9, 22.5, 30.0 and 34.4%) were recorded in isolates from the commercial feeds (ACF, SF, TF and GF respectively). Similarly, mean resistance rates recorded in isolates from feed ingredients were low with overall mean standing at 38.3%. Very high, overall mean resistance rates (60.0–100.0%) were recorded against ampicillin, cotrimoxazole, nitrofurantoin, augumentine, tetracycline and chloramphenicol in the isolates. Relatively lower resistance rates were on the other hand recorded for gentamycin, oxfloxacin, streptomycin and pefloxacin. These data point to poor antibiotic use habits among farmers and practitioners in the study area and sound the warning of high anti-microbial resistance among these organisms of economic and public health importance. International Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development Vol. 7(1) 2006: 10-18

A twelve (12) weeks feeding trial was carried out to determine the effect of varying dietary inclusions of Microdesmis puberula leaf meal (MPLM) on the growth performance, hematological indices and serum biochemical constituents of growing rabbits. Four grower rabbit diets were formulated to contain the leaf meal at inclusion levels of 0, 10, 20, and 30% respectively. Twenty-four crossbred rabbits aged between 7 and 9 week were divided into 4 groups of 6 each and randomly assigned to the 4 dietary treatments. Feed intake, weight gain and feed conversion ratio were not significantly different (P

Dactyladaema barteri is an important shrub utilized in fallow development and as a much-preferred ruminant browse by local farmers in Nigeria. We report the death of two 12 – 15 months old West African Dwarf (WAD) goats used in a digestibility trail with D. barteri as sole feed and in a mixed browse - grass diet in the humid tropical southeastern Nigeria. The affected goats reduced feed intake, emaciated and became diarrheic. Treatment to stop the diarrhea was unsuccessful. Thirteen and 14 days after unset of signs, the two goats died after being fed the browse for 24 and 27 days respectively. Major post-mortem findings included inflammation and hemorrhages in the gastro-intestinal tract, congestion of the kidney and infra-madibular edema. The tannin content of D. barteri was 4.6% and appeared to be beyond the limit of tolerance of the goats. Sole feeding of D. barteri under experimental conditions did not support growth resulted in death of WAD goats and there fore should not be advocated. Keywords: browse, Dactyladaema barteri, goats, poison, Nigeria Animal Production Research Advances Vol. 1(1) 2005: 50-52

A study of helminth parasites in West African Dwarf (WAD) breeds of goats and sheep involving an 18 months faecal examinations for helminth eggs was carried out in three Local Government Areas (LGA's) of Owerri Zone Southeastern Nigeria. Of the 2,550 small ruminants examined, 71.4% and 28.6% were goats and sheep which had helminth infection rates of 90.1% and 97.3% respectively. Nematode infection was consistently high in the two species of hosts and gave a mean infection rate of 78.4%, while trematodes and cestodes recorded 13% and 8.7% respectively. Strongyles recorded the highest incidence rates in both species of animals, thus posting 62.2% in goats and 41.3% in sheep. Skrjabinema ovis equally recorded a high incidence rate in sheep which was 21.7%. This is the first report of Skrjabinema ovis in Southeastern Nigeria. Trematode infection showed a very high prevalence rate with Paramphistomum sp. recording 86.7% in goats, while Cotylophoron cotylophorum had a prevalence rate of 40% in sheep. Among the cestodes encountered, Moniezia expansa recorded the highest incidence rate of 50% in goats, whereas in the sheep Avitellina centripunctata and Moniezia expansa each equally posted 50%. Across the LGAs studied, Ngor/Okpala LGA had the highest nematode infection rate of 37.8% and 37% for both goats and sheep, while Owerri West (46.7%), recorded the highest prevalence rate for trematode infection in goats. Owerri North LGAs had the highest prevalence rate of 46.7% trematode infection in sheep.Keywords: occurrence, helminths, small ruminants, Owerri, Nigeria Résumé On a mené une étude sur les parasites chez les races caprines et ovines naines de l'Afrique de l'ouest (WAD) dans trois localités de la région d'Owerri au sud-est du Nigeria. L'étude consistait en des examens des matières fécales pendant 18 mois pour détecter les oeufs d'helminthes. Sur les 2 550 petits ruminants examinés, 71,4% et 28,6% étaient des chèvres et des moutons qui avaient des taux d'infection par les helminthes de 90,1% et 97,3% respectivement. L'infection par les nématodes était constamment élevée chez les deux espèces d'hôtes avec un taux moyen d'infection de 78,4%, tandis que l'infection par les trématodes et les cestodes était de 13% et 8,7% respectivement. On a enregistré des taux très élevés d'incidence des strongyles chez les deux espèces, soit 62,2% chez les chèvres et 41,3% chez les moutons. On a aussi noté un taux élevé d'incidence de Skrjabinema ovis (21,7%) chez les moutons. Il s'agit du premier rapport sur Skrjabinema ovis dans le sud-est du Nigeria. L'infection par les trématodes a révélé un taux très élevé de prévalence : Paramphistomum sp. (86,7%) chez les chèvres, Cotylophoron cotylophorum (40%) chez les moutons. S'agissant des cestodes, on a relevé un taux très élevé d'incidence de Moniezia expansa (50%) chez les chèvres, et Avitellina centripunctata (50%) et Moniezia expansa (50%) chez les moutons. Dans les localités faisant l'objet d'études, Ngor/Okpala avaient le taux le plus élevé d'infection par les nématodes : 37,8% et 37% pour les chèvres et les moutons, tandis qu'on a enregistré le taux le plus élevé de prévalence d'infection par les trématodes chez les chèvres à Owerri ouest (46,7%). La localité d'Owerri nord avait le taux de prévalence le plus élevé d'infection par les trématodes chez les moutons (46,7%). Mots-clés: présence, helminthes, petits ruminants, Owerri, NigeriaBulletin of Animal Health and Production Journal Vol. 53(4) 2005: 226-233