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Ticks transmit different tick-borne diseases (TBD) in cattle and humans while their bites predispose the cattle to dermatophilosis which result in down-grade of hides and other production loses. Zebu Cattle (Bos indicus) Crosses found in 5 Local Government Areas of Sokoto State were sampled for ticks between February and July 2013. Body surfaces of the 498 cattle were visually examined and any tick found was manually detached and preserved in 70% ethanol and subsequently identified using the Keys to African Ticks. A total of 1528 hard ticks infested 288 cattle [infestation rate IR (%) = 57.3; mean tick burden, MTB (tick/cattle) = 5.44±1.21]. Generally, Bulls were more infested (IR=63.9; MTB=5.75±1.12) than cows (IR=54.4%; MTB=5.17±1.56). Among Zebu crosses, infestation was in the order Friesian-X (IR=61.2; MTB=6.1±1.1), Red Bororo (IR=60.0; MTB=5.0±9.56), Sokoto Gudali (IR=59.5; MTB=5.3±1.27), and White Fulani (IR=52.1; MTB=5.6±2.6). Genera of ticks identified were Hyalomma (60.9%), Boophilus (22.6%), Rhipicephalus (10.1%) and Amblyomma (6.4%) but percentage distributions by species were Hyalomma truncatum (18.4), H. dromedarii (15.4), H. impeltatum (9.4), H. rufipes (9.3), H. impressum (8.4), Boophilus decoloratus (8.2), B. geigyi (7.5), B. annulatus (6.9), Amblyomma variegatum (6.4), Rhipicephalus evertsi (5.5), and Rh. Sanguineus (4.5). Sokoto is at risk of TBD out-break. In man, TBDs are difficult to treat because they are often misdiagnosed as malaria or other febrile conditions. Effective tick-control strategies should be adopted by cattle owners, herdsmen and veterinary personnel to prevent wide-spread potential outbreak of TBDs considering the present activities of nomadic herdsmen in the country

Traumatic intracerebral hemorrhage (TICH) represents 13-48% of the lesions after a traumatic brain injury (TBI). The frequency of TICH-hemorrhagic progression (TICH-HP) is estimated to be approximately 38-63%. The relationship between the impact site and TICH location has been described in many autopsy-based series. This association, however, has not been consistently demonstrated since the introduction of computed tomography (CT) for studying TBI. This study aimed to determine the association between the impact site and TICH location in patients with moderate and severe TBI. We also analyzed the associations between the TICH location, the impact site, the production mechanism (coup or contrecoup), and hemorrhagic progression. We retrospectively analyzed the records of 408 patients after a moderate or severe TBI between January 2010 and November 2014. We identified 177 patients with a total of 369 TICHs. We found a statistically significant association between frontal TICHs and impact sites located on the anterior area of the head (OR 5.8, p < 0.001). The temporal TICH location was significantly associated with impact sites located on the posterior head area (OR 4.9, p < 0.001). Anterior and lateral TICHs were associated with impact sites located at less than 90 degrees (coup) (OR 1.64, p = 0.03) and more than 90 degrees (contrecoup), respectively. Factors independently associated with TICH-HP obtained through logistic regression included an initial volume of <1 cc, cisternal compression, falls, acute subdural hematoma, multiple TICHs, and contrecoup TICHs. We demonstrated a significant association between the TICH location and impact site. The contrecoup represents a risk factor independently associated with hemorrhagic progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increase in the volume of a traumatic intracerebral hemorrhage (TICH) is a widely studied phenomenon that has a direct impact on the prognosis of patients. The objective of this study was to identify the risk factors associated with the progression of TICH. We retrospectively analyzed the records of 1970 adult patients >15 years of age who were consecutively admitted after sustaining a closed severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) between January 1987 and November 2013 at a single center. Beginning in 2007, patients with moderate TBIs were also included. A total of 782 patients exhibited one or more TICH on the initial CT scan, and met the selection criteria. The main outcome variable was the presence or absence of progression of the TICH. Univariate and multivariate statistical analyses were performed. Factors independently associated with the growth of TICH obtained through logistic regression included the following: an initial volume <5 cc (odds ratio [OR] 2.42, p<0.001), cisternal compression (OR 1.95, p<0.001), decompressive craniectomy (OR 2.18, p<0.001), age (mean 37.67 vs. 42.95 years; OR 1.01, p<0.001), falls as mechanism of trauma (OR 1.72, p=0.001), multiple TICHs (OR 1.56, p=0.007), and hypoxia (OR 1.56, p=0.02). TICH progression occurred with a frequency of 63% in our study. We showed that there was a correlation between TICH growth and some variables, such as multiple TICHs, a lower initial volume, acute subdural hematoma, cisternal compression, older patient age, hypoxia, falls, and decompressive craniectomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]