A large number of medicinal plants and their purified constituents have been shown to have beneficial therapeutic potentials. In this study, ethanolic extract of Bidens pilosa was evaluated for its invivo activity on haematological parameters in Swiss albino rats orogastrically dosed with Escherichia coli O157:H7. Fifteen Swiss albino rats were used for the study. The animals were divided into five groups of three rats each. The first, second and third group of rats were orogastically dosed with 9.1 × 104 cfu/ml of E. coli O157: H7 to induce infection. The first group was treated with 800 mg/kg Body weight (Bw) of the ethanolic extract of B. pilosa, the second group was treated with Ofloxacin (16mg/kg Bw), while the third group was not treated. The fourth group was given only the plant extract, while the fifth group was given sterile distilled water. The results of the haematological assay indicated that: the infected-untreated rats showed lowest mean values of PCV (34.00±2.50a), RBC (6.54±0.45a) and HB (11.50±0.83a); and highest ESR (4.50±0.50c). In the infected-extract-treated group, a significant increase in the PCV (45.00±1.00b) and HB (15.00±0.33b) was observed. The group fed with extract alone had the highest mean values of PCV (51.00±1.00b), RBC (11.10±0.95c) and HB (17.00±0.33b). Similar pattern was observed for the results obtained for the white blood cell differential count. The infected-extract-treated group, and the group to which only extract was administered without infection showed significant increase in lymphocyte count (61.00±1.00ab) and (73.50±2.50c) respectively. Conversely, the infected-untreated group showed a decline in lymphocyte count (54.50±3.50a). The results obtained from this study revealed that ethanolic leaf extract of Bidens pilosa exhibited haematopoietic potential and tends to modulate the values of White Blood Cell differential count in Swiss albino rats.

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Escherichia coli O157:H7 is an enterohemorrhagic serotype of the bacterium Escherichia coli. It is a cause of severe colitis, bloody diarrhoea and Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) which is associated with life threatening systemic manifestations. This study was designed to investigate the occurrence, antibiotics susceptibility pattern and plasmid profile of E. coli O157 from fecal samples of children. A total of 311 fecal samples were collected from apparently healthy children (111 males and 200 females) within the age range of 0-5 years at Mother and Child Hospital, Anchorite Daycare, Women's' Forum Daycare and FUTA Daycare in Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. The fecal samples were screened using standard bacteriological and serological techniques. Twenty one (6.75%) of the samples were positive for E. coli O157. Antibiotics susceptibility testing was carried out using disk diffusion technique, many of the isolates displayed multi-drug resistance to the antibiotics employed in this study. The resistance pattern observed is as follows: Ceftriazone 19 (90.5%), Amoxycilin 18 (85.7%), Tetracycline 13 (61.9%), Gentamycin 11(52.4%), Cotrimoxazole 9 (42.9%), Augmentin 8 (25.8%), Ofloxacin 2 (9.5%), Ciprofloxacin 2 (9.5%) and Nitrofurantoin 2 (9.5%). Plasmid profiling of the strains revealed the presence of multiple plasmids Falowo et al.; IJPR, 1(1): 1-9, 2018; Article no.IJPR.41237 2 ranging in sizes from 4.0 to 17.5 kb. Conclusively, since the mode of transmission of this pathogen is via the fecal-oral route and an exceptionally low dose of the organism is able to cause infection. It is therefore recommended that routine screening is carried out to determine the carrier rate of the organism, more public awareness should be carried out to educate the community on need for adherence to personal hygiene, environmental hygiene and good food handling practices to prevent an outbreak. Original Research Article