Viral skin diseases namely lumpy skin disease (LSD), bovine papilloma (BP), goat pox (GTP) and contagious ecthyma (CE) have been reported in Plateau State, but our search through literatures did not reveal any documented prevalence rates of these diseases. A retrospective study of LSD, BP, GTP and CE was carried out based on Jos abattoir (2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015)(2016) and laboratory records of National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom, Nigeria (2010-2016. Based on the Jos Abattoir records, the prevalence rates were as follows LSD: 0.13% and BP 0.5% in Cattle. The prevalence of CE was 4.2%in sheep and 3.6% in goats. While LSD was diagnosed only in 2005, 2008 and 2016, BP was diagnosed every year except 2013, 2015 and 2016. Comparatively, CE was diagnosed in every year and month of the period reviewed. The analysis of records revealed that 11 samples were submitted for lab confirmation from suspected cases of LSD, 45.4% of which were positive by PCR. Additionally, 10 samples submitted for lab confirmation from suspected cases of GTP and 40% of the samples analyzed were positive by PCR. Of the 11 samples submitted for lab confirmation of CE, 36.4% of samples were confirmed to be CE by PCR. The laboratory results validate the Jos abattoir records which confirm that LSD, GTP and CE occur in Plateau State, Nigeria.

The research work was carried out to ascertain the performance and cost benefits of broiler starter birds fed replacement levels of lizardmeal to fishmeal at starter phase.Atotal number of 90 day oldAnak 2000 broiler chickswere used for the experiment. The birdswere assigned to five treatment group of eighteen birds each been replicated thrice with six birds per replicate. Lizard meal was included to replace fish meal at levels of 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% respectively. Feed and water were given ad-libitum. Birds fed 75% inclusion levels of lizard meal (treatment 4) to replace fish meal was superior to birds in other treatments in terms of average final body weight, average daily feed intake, average weight gain and feed conversion ratio. Cost benefit analysis also showed that birds in treatment 4 (75% lizard meal inclusion)was better than the rest of the treatment group.

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Purpose: The Injury Severity Score (ISS) is used to predict outcome after trauma. However, it is criticised because of flaws in its calculation of injury severity. The New Injury Severity Score (NISS) was proposed as an alternative. However, studies are conflicted on which is better. We compared both scales in predicting surgery, multiple surgeries, preoperative blood transfusion, hospital stay length and mortality in patients with orthopaedic injuries. Method: A retrospective cohort study that used the hospital's trauma database. Patients’ data were extracted, and the outcome parameters noted. The ISS and NISS were calculated for each patient. The patients were dichotomised into discrepant and non-discrepant if both scores are different or the same, respectively. A receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve was generated for each outcome parameter, and the area under the curve (AUC) compared between the two scoring systems. Results: Four hundred and forty-seven (447) patients participated in this study. The participants’ average age was 34.78 years (SD = 18.67), mean ISS score was 8.5 (SD = 5.9), while the average NISS was 9.4 (SD = 6.6). The NISS exceeded the ISS (discrepant) in 82 subjects (18.3%), while both scores are the same (non-discrepant) in 365 subjects (81.7%). The NISS outperformed the ISS in predicting multiple surgeries and hospital stay length, while the ISS better predicts mortality rate. Both performed similarly for predicting surgical intervention and blood transfusion. Conclusion: Both scores performed similarly and there is insufficient evidence to replace ISS with NISS.

Records on pedigree information and growth traits of Gudali beef calves were obtained from the Institute of Agricultural Research for Development, Cameroon. Data were edited to have complete information on calf, sire and dam identity, sex, dates and season of birth, herd and weights at birth (BWT), 6 months (6 MWT), weaning (WWT), 12 months (12 MWT), yearling (YWT), 18 months (18 MWT), 24 months (24 MWT) and 36 months (36 MWT). Genetic parameters were estimated using multiple trait derivative free restricted maximum likelihood (MTDFRML) program. The estimated direct (h 2 a) and maternal (h 2 m) heritabilities for BWT,