Ebola epidemic: when science is not enough

LSE’s Dr Bankole Falade examines how research on the oral polio vaccine controversy in Nigeria helps us to understand prevailing attitudes to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa

Scientific and non-scientific information in the uptake of health information: The case of Ebola

The Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa (2013–2016) claimed over 10 000 lives in less than 18 months. Low levels of familiarity with the disease, ease of transmission, scale of infection, gruesomeness of symptoms, lack of cure and high fatality rate created a global panic. From the perspective of the social psychology of communication and content analysis, this study examines media coverage of the crisis in Africa with a view to unpacking the scientific and non-scientific information that may have framed public understanding of the disease. Findings show that accepting scientific advice was not unproblematic, because of the similarity of early symptoms with known diseases such as Lassa, dengue and malaria fevers. Cultural and religious actors and beliefs posed a paradox for believers as the public assimilated disease prevention information into existing norms and practices. Rumours and conspiracy theories about Western governments and pharmaceuticals also contributed to the rejection of the scientific explanation of its origin. Fear of the devastating effects of the disease and the lack of a cure led to the stigmatisation of the infected and treatment centres and ultimately to public revolts. Findings show the importance of non-scientific information and actors in matters of health and illness in Africa

Economic benefits of utilizing small sized reservoirs for capture fisheries: the Alau Lake experience

The paper discusses possible approaches to emply in harnessing fish resources in a small sized reservoir. It reveals how capture, extensive and integrated culture fisheries could be beneficially employed to derive maximum gains from the reservoir without jeopardizing its fisheries potentials especially in terms of conservation. (Document has 8 pages.

PERFORMANCE OF BROILERS FED VARYING LEVELS OF BIOTIN AND PALM KERNEL OIL

A total of four hundred and eighty day-old commercial b+oiler chicks were assigned t? 12 dietary treatments in a 2 x 6 factorial experiment to study the effects of biotin and palm kernel oil supplementation on their performance and carcass characteristics. Measurements of average daily weight gain, average daily feed intake, carcass weight,' dressing percentage, total edible meat weight and total bone weight showed that a minimum of 120 mcg biotin per kg of feed was needed by broiler chicks for optimum perfor~ance. All carcass characteristics examined except total bone expressed as percentage of carcass weight were positively correlated with di.et~ry biotin level, although none was significant , (P>0.'05). Supplementation of diet with 2% palm kernel oil significan.tly (P<0.05) reduced average daily feed intake and ' average weight gain but did not affect feed efficiency (gairi/feedintake) and carcaSB characteristics of broiler

The Biotin Requirement of Broilers Feed Maize-Palm Kernel Meal Based Ration

6 duplicate floor pens with 20cday-old commercial broiler chicks each, were fed practical-type broiler diet with m;:tize:- palm kernel meal, supplemented with graded levels of biotin so that the rations had 40,89.,120; Y60,200,:and 240 Ilg of the vitamin per kgof feed. This treatment was maintained fo1":6 weeks. Estimation of the body weight, feed intake, blood glucose conciliation,:and:li pid contents of their, ~kidney and blood showed that dietary biotin of 120 IlMkgJee(j·is·a~;m;inimuri1requirement. 160 Ilg/kg feed was required for the prevention of dermatitis, morti:l1ity due to fatty liver and kidney syndrome (FLKS) and leg deformities

Preliminary Investigation on the Effect of Dietary Supplement Biotin and Palm Kernel Oil on Blood,Liver and Kidney Lipids in Chicks

A total of 480 day-old broiler chicks were used in two trials conducted to investigate the performance and lipid contents of blood, liver and kidneys of birds when fed varying levels of palm kernel oil (0% and 2%) and biotin (40, 80, 120, 160, 200 and 240 I1lcg/kg feed) in a 2 x 6 factOlial experimental design. The results showed that blood, liver and kidney lipid concentrations were significantly affected by dietary biotin treatments. While total lipid, free fatty acid, triglyceride and cholesterol contents were negatively correlated with dietary biotin level, phospholipid concentrations were positively correlated. Biotin-deficient chicks had significantly higher total lipid, free fatty acid, triglyceride and cholesterol but lower phospholipid contents in their blood and the two organs. Supplementation of the diet with 2% palm kernel oil significantly elevated blood phospholipid concentration, but depressed the accumulation of the other lipid fractions in both organs and the blood of birds. Blood, liver and kidney cholesterol concentrations were not affected by 2% fat supplementation. Observation on the lipid parameters coupled with the results on feed utilisation appeared to suggest that a minimum of 120 mcg of the vitamin per kilograme of diet was required by broiler chicks for optimum performance

Fishing gear survey of Lake Alau

This report briefly documents the fishing gear commonly used by local fishers in Lake Alau (Nigeria). Five types of gears are described: gill-net, cast net, Gura trap, longlines, and Clap ne

Hesperidin prevents lipopolysaccharide-induced endotoxicity in rats

Context: Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is a major trigger of septic shock resulting in multiple organ damage through excessive stimulation of the host’s immune cells resulting in the release of cytokines. Previous studies have shown that hesperidin has several beneficial properties against inflammation and oxidative stress. Objective: The influence of hesperidin on endotoxemia, endothelial dysfunction, inflammation, and oxidative stress was investigated using a murine model of sepsis. Materials and methods: Rats were pretreated for 15 d with three doses (50 mg/kg, 100 mg/kg, and 200 mg/kg) of hesperidin prior to LPS administration. Afterwards, the levels of biomarkers of endotoxemia, endothelial dysfunction, and oxidative stress were assessed. Reverse transcriptase PCR technique was used to assess the expression of hepatic proinflammatory cytokines. Results: Hesperidin pretreatment significantly (p < 0.05) reduced circulating endotoxin, as well as the levels of bactericidal permeability increasing protein and procalcitonin, and the associated endothelial dysfunction by reducing the levels of plasma soluble intercellular adhesion molecules 1 and inducible nitric oxide (iNO) synthase. There was also down-regulation of the expression of gene for interleukin 1α, interleukin 1β, interleukin 1 receptor, interleukin 6, and tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) in the liver of rats treated with LPS as a result of hesperidin pretreatment. Hesperidin also showed anti-oxidative properties through the significant (p < 0.05) reduction of NO, hydroperoxides, and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and increase of glutathione, glutathione reductase, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione-S-transferase in the organs. Conclusion: Different doses of hesperidin can prevent endotoxemia-induced oxidative stress as well as inflammatory and endothelial perturbation in rats when administered for as few as 15 d before exposure to endotoxin

Bacterial load, composition and succession in the African catfish, Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822) held at ambient temperatures.

Microorganisms, especially bacteria are the major causes of spoilage in fresh fish. In the coastal areas of developing tropical countries where ambient temperatures are usually high and access to modern preservation and processing technologies is low, fish is often left under ambient conditions for long periods after capture, resulting in quality deterioration and spoilage with attendant increases in post harvest losses. This study was carried out to identify, characterize and estimate the number of colony forming units (CFU) of microorganisms associated with freshly slaughtered African catfish, Clarias gariepinus held at ambient temperatures. Microorganisms were isolated from the flesh, gills, guts, mouth and skin of fish samples at successive 6-hour intervals post-slaughter for 42 hours when the fish were adjudged spoilt by a 5-member trained assessment panel. Determination of viable bacterial count was carried out by introducing aliquots of three dilutions of samples into nutrient agar plates, incubating at 37oC for 24hrs and counting the number of CFU. Microorganisms were thereafter identified using colonial and morphological characteristics and biochemical tests. Organoleptic assessment of fish samples were carried out by a 5-man trained panel. Results showed that a total of eleven microorganisms of pathogenic and/or spoilage importance were isolated at various intervals from fish samples, including Acinetobacter spp, Bacillus subtilis, B. megaterium, Citrobacter freundii, Enterobacter cloacae, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella oxytoca, K. pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas lundensis and Staphylococcus aureus. Generally the number of CFU from various parts of fish increased significantly (P < 0.05) as time interval increased

Genetic gains in yield and yield related traits under drought stress and favorable environments in a maize population improved using marker assisted recurrent selection

The objective of marker assisted recurrent selection (MARS) is to increase the frequency of favorable marker alleles in a population before inbred line extraction. This approach was used to improve drought tolerance and grain yield (GY) in a biparental cross of two elite drought tolerant lines. The testcrosses of randomly selected 50 S1 lines from each of the three selection cycles (C0, C1, C2) of the MARS population, parental testcrosses and the cross between the two parents (F1) were evaluated under drought stress (DS) and well watered (WW) well as under rainfed conditions to determine genetic gains in GY and other agronomic traits. Also, the S1 lines derived from each selection types were genotyped with single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. Testcrosses derived from C2 produced significantly higher grain field under DS than those derived from C0 with a relative genetic gain of 7% per cycle. Also, the testcrosses of S1 lines from C2 showed an average genetic gain of 1% per cycle under WW condition and 3% per cycle under rainfed condition. Molecular analysis revealed that the frequency of favorable marker alleles increased from 0.510 at C0 to 0.515 at C2, while the effective number of alleles (Ne) per locus decreased from C0 (1.93) to C2 (1.87). Our results underscore the effectiveness of MARS for improvement of GY under DS condition