Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is a global pandemic. Healthcare workers' (HCWs) role in patient management is predisposing and can serve as means of hospitals and community transmission. This study evaluated HCWs' knowledge, attitude, and practice towards COVID-19 in Nigeria. Methods: we carried out a cross-sectional survey among HCWs during the COVID-19 outbreak in Nigeria from March to June 2020. The study assessed 346 HCWs for Knowledge, attitude, and practice by using an online (Google form) self-administered questionnaire, based on a convinience sampling technique Data were retrieved and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Chi-Square and one-way ANOVA were used to measure association and difference among demographic variables. The relationship between knowledge, attitude, and practice was measured using Spearman's rho correlation test. Results: the mean knowledge score of the HCWs was 7.1 on a scale of 0-8. The correct overall rate of the knowledge questionnaire was 88.75%. Knowledge was gained mainly from television (35.0%) and social media (35.0%). The mean attitude score on a scale of 0-6 was 5.31 AE 0.39. Most (92.5%) participants were confident that Nigerian medical scientists would win the war against COVID-19. The majority (92.2%) of the respondents thought that SARS-CoV-2 was not a biological weapon. About 1 out of 5 respondents held that faith healing or prayer is the only cure for COVID-19. A vast majority of the HCWs were taking precautionary measures such as avoiding crowded places (94.2%), washing of hands (96.0%), and the use of personal protective equipment (91.6%) against SARS-CoV-2 infection. Nevertheless, only 3 out of 5 HCWs used a face mask when leaving home. There was a significant (p ¼ 0.046) positive correlation (0.584) between knowledge and attitude. Conclusion: our results showed that HCWs in Nigeria had excellent knowledge and possessed a positive attitude and good practice towards COVID-19. However; there were areas where poor knowledge, negative attitudes and unacceptable practices were observed. We recommend continuous public health education of HCWs on SARS-COV-2 infection control and prevention.

The prevalence and antimicrobial sensitivity of Salmonella from dogs in Maiduguri Metropolis were determined using standard bacteriological methods to assess the risk of possible transmission of Salmonella infection from dogs to humans. Of 119 samples, Salmonella was isolated from 52 (43.7%). Males had higher prevalence of 50.0% compared with 34.7% in females (P < 0.05). Dogs older than 24 months had higher prevalence of 61.0% and the lowest was seen in dogs aged 13–24 months (P < 0.05). The prevalence of 31.8%, 41.2%, and 58.8% was observed in dogs aged 3–6, 10–12, and 7–9 months, respectively. High prevalence of 49.5% was observed in Mongrels, while Terrier and Alsatian breeds had 30.0% and 8.3%, respectively. Salmonella isolates from Alsatian and Terrier breeds showed about 100% susceptibility to all the tested antimicrobials. Higher percentage of the Salmonella isolates from Mongrels also showed susceptibility to ciprofloxacin (89.7%), amoxicillin (87.6%), vancomycin (86.6%), and chloramphenicol (84.5%). However about 50% of these isolates showed resistance to ofloxacin. The carrier status of Salmonella is high among dogs especially Mongrels. Therefore good environmental hygiene, discouraging straying coupled with feeding of dogs with properly cooked and uncontaminated feeds was recommended to mitigate risk of human salmonellosis.

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is a chronic infectious and contagious zoonotic disease of domestic animals, wild animals, and humans. It poses a public health threat and economic losses due to abattoir condemnation of infected carcasses during meat inspection of slaughtered animals. Bovine tuberculosis is widespread in Africa including Nigeria affecting both cattle and humans, particularly Northern Nigeria. A prospective survey was conducted from June to August 2013 in the three Zonal abattoirs of Bauchi State, Nigeria. A total of 150 structured close-ended questionnaires were administered to abattoir personnel to assess their level of awareness of bTB. This study was aimed at determining the level of public health awareness, attitude, and practices of abattoir workers of bTB in Bauchi State, Nigeria. There was a statistically significant association between respondents' awareness of bTB and their occupational status, age, and duration of exposure to cattle carcasses (P < 0.05); the odds of being aware of bTB were 9.4, 7.3, and 2.1, respectively. In conclusion, these demonstrate the urgent need for public health authorities to intervene in bTB control. The risk of bTB transmission as indicated by the personnel's practices and awareness levels in Bauchi State could be prevented through the use of protective clothing (PPEs).

Tuberculosis (TB) is a major global public health problem. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there are 8 million new cases and 3 million deaths in humans due to the disease each year. A retrospective abattoir study of bovine tuberculosis in Gombe Township Abattoir in Northeastern Nigeria was carried out from 2008 to 2015 using the abattoir records. Out of 154,562 slaughtered heads of cattle examined at postmortem, 1202(0.78%) had typical tuberculous lesions and overall total prevalence rate of 0.78%. The annual prevalence was significantly higher in 2015(1.04%) with the lowest records in 2011(0.34%). The annual prevalence rate showed intermittent increase in levels above the expected prevalence and there was a statistically significant difference in the relative annual prevalence rate of the disease in the abattoir. The distribution and occurrence of the disease in rainy season were higher than that in the dry season. The disease also appeared to be more prevalent in the rainy season 792(65.90%) compared with the dry season 410(34.10%) and the difference was statistically significant (χ2 = 15.45, p < 0.05). It was concluded that bovine TB is prevalent in Northeastern Nigeria, with indications of epidemics status in Gombe state.

The one-humped camel, Camelus dromedarius, is an important pack and ride, dairy and meat animal in semi-arid northeastern Nigeria. This study was carried out to document reproductive information for scientists and farmers on camel rearing for improved productivity. A structured open-ended questionnaire on herd growth parameters and constraints of camel-rearing in the region was administered to 147 respondents. Results showed that most camel owners were middle aged, married, Arab men with over 20 years of experience in camel-rearing. The camels were made up of predominantly mixed breeds originating from eastern and northern Africa. Sexually matured heifers are detectable at three years of age, have good body conformation and are receptive to bulls during estrus. They have a long rutting period that stretched from rainy to harmattan seasons (July to January). Length of gestation is 13 months, and pregnancy is detectable by observing a successfully mated cow raising her tail on being approached by a bull at two weeks into pregnancy or the distension of the abdominal region towards mid pregnancy. Up to 60% conception rate was reported while age of cow at first parturition was five years. Other herd growth parameters reported include calf mortality rate of up to 40%, milking duration of one year and productivity of at least 10 calves per cow per life time. Only 4% of respondents in this study consult veterinary care while few (23%) respondents helped the dam to suckle its new born. Abortion, biting flies, trans-border conflicts and armed banditries were the major constraints to camel production in the study area. It was concluded that despite the knowledgeability of camel herders in this study, there appears to be poor herd management that needs to be addressed by adequate education and access to veterinary care in order to improve productivity.