Market gardening, in the swampy lowlands of the Dschangcity, plays an important role in terms of providing employment, and supply the city with fresh products. However, waterborne diseases, which occur in the city, are both attributed to the bad quality of drinking water and sanitation practices. This work aims to characterize watering waters of crop, to assess the health risks associated with the use of these waters. Water from eleven streams and five wells used to irrigate crops were sampled and analyzed once a week for a month. Analyses focused on physico-chemical parameters (temperature, suspended matter, pH, electrical conductivity, COD, BOD₅, NO^-₃ , Al, Fe, Cu, Ni), parasitological (helminthes eggs) and bacteriological (total coliforms, fecal coliforms, fecal streptococcus). The results show that, the physico-chemical quality of well waters generally approaches the WHO standards of crop watering water. The physico-chemical of streams waters and bacteriological quality of wells and streams waters are bad, according to WHO guide. These bad quality waters could contaminate crops, some of which are eaten raw, which is surely a cause of the outbreak of waterborne diseases in the city. The waters from streams are more affected. The pretreatment of the water before use for irrigation of vegetables is highly recommended

In Dschang City, as in Cameroon's secondary cities, waterborne diseases are increasing. Stream waters are used for watering crops. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the health risk of irrigating vegetables (lettuce, carrots and eggplants) in the Dschang lowlands. Escherichia coli, Entamoeba spp. cysts, Ascaris lumbricoides eggs, major elements and trace elements were looked for in the vegetables collected from 18 plots. The results show that market gardening is practised mainly in the lowlands that receive all the untreated waste from the city. Stream waters used for spraying crops contains approximately 4.2 Log (CFU of E. coli) in 100 ml, regardless of the season. Eggs and parasite cysts were detected. The vegetables analysed have a low and acceptable chemical content. Regardless of the season, E. coli found on crops was far above the standards (103 UFCg−1 DM), 5–58 times above. Eggs and parasite cysts were also detected. These parasites and bacteria represent a real risk to consumers and would be partly responsible for the upsurge of waterborne diseases in Dschang City. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Many Cameroonian cities lack access to potable drinking water where populations rely on alternative water sources of doubtful quality. This study aimed at describing the trends and patterns of waterborne diseases (WBDs) reported in some health facilities in Bamboutos Division between 2013 and 2017 as baseline data towards understanding the profile of WBDs in this area. A retrospective review of clinical data kept on patients who visited the main health facilities in Bamboutos Division from January 2013 to December 2017 was conducted. Overall, 39.1% (n = 8,124) of total patients were positive for at least one WBD. Categories of WBDs were dysenteries (18.6%), gastroenteritis (4.2%), viral hepatitis (0.2%) and typhoid was the most preponderant (24.4%). The most affected age groups were those above 24 years but significant differences were observed only in 2013 and 2017. Distribution of potential WBDs was locality dependent. The highest prevalence of typhoid fever was recorded in Bameboro (35.4%), dysenteries in Bamedjinda (20.4%) and gastroenteritis (17.3%) in Bamekoumbou. The study shows very high overall prevalence of WBDs in some localities which could be considered as ‘hotspots’ of WBDs in Bamboutos. This suggests the urgent need for setting up measures to tackle challenges of potable drinking water supply.

REMERCIEMENTSCette recherche a obtenu l'appui financier du projet MODEAB conduit par la ville de Bangangté et ses partenaires. RESUMELes urines contenues dans les eaux usées nécessitent de gros moyens pour leur traitement. Elles contiennent pourtant de l'azote que l'on peut rentabiliser. La culture du maïs, fertilisée à l'urine humaine à différentes doses, a été comparée à celle fertilisée à l'engrais minéral. L'urine a été hygiénisée, puis appliquée sur deux sites sur la base d'un dispositif en blocs complètement randomisés répétés 4 fois. Pour éviter l'évaporation de l'azote, l'urine a été enfouie dans des layons d'environ 5 centimètres de profondeur. A maturité, les traitements à l'urine pour 90, 120 et 150 kg N/ha respectivement indiquent une production de biomasse sèche de 12,6±6,7 t/ha, 17,5±6,7 et 20,7±6,7 t/ha, et des rendements grains du maïs de 4,4±1,9, 5,0±1,9 et 5,2±1,9 t/ha. La dose d'engrais 20-10-10 (120 kg N/ha) donne une production plus élevée de biomasse sèche de 23,0±6,7 t/ha et un rendement grain de 6,7±2,6 t/ha. Pour tous ces résultats, la différence n'est hautement significative (P<0,01) qu'entre les fertilisations à l'urine à 120, 150 t/ha, l'engrais minéral et celle à 90 kg N/ha d'une part, et les témoins d'autre part. L'augmentation du nombre de sites et de traitements serait nécessaire pour une bonne extension de ces résultats. © 2017 International Formulae Group. All rights reserved.Mots clés : Toilette écologique, urine hygiénisée, fertilisation, biomasse sèche, rendement grain, maïs. Fertilization of the corn (Zea mays L.) based on sanitized human urines in an oxisol of the West Cameroon ABSTRACTThe urines contained in waste water require large means for their treatment. They however contain nitrogen that can make profitable. The corn cultivation, fertilized with the human urine with various N-contents (90, 120 and 150 kg N.ha ). The urine was E. TEMGOUA et al. / Int. J. Biol. Chem. Sci. 11(5): 2071-2081 2072 purified, then applied to two sites on repeated blocks device completely randomized with 4 repetitions. To avoid the evaporation of nitrogen, the urine was hidden in tailboards of approximately 5 centimeters depth. With maturity, the treatments with urine for 90, 120 and 150 kg-N. , and corn grains outputs of 4.4 ±1.9, 5.0±1.9 and 5.2±1.9 t.ha -1 . The manure 20-10-10 applied with 120 kg N.ha-1 gives a higher production of dry biomass (23.0 ±6.7 t.ha -1 ) and an output grain of 6.7 (± 2.6) t.ha -1 . For all these results, the difference was highly significant (P<0.01) only between fertilizations by urine of 120, 150 t/ha, mineral manure and that of 90 kg N/ha on the one hand, and the control on the other hand. The increase in number of sites and treatments would be necessary for validation of these results.

Ce travail a bénéficié du soutien de la Fondation Internationale pour la Sciences à travers les bourses W5005-1, W5005-2, W4006-1 et W4006-2 à qui les auteurs adressent un grand merci. RESUME Le risque lié à l'utilisation des eaux usées en agriculture dépend de la durée de survie des microorganismes pathogènes sur les cultures. Ce travail a pour objectif de suivre in situ la durée de survie de E. coli, des oeufs et des kystes de parasites sur la carotte, l'aubergine et la laitue. Les cultures ont reçu de l'eau polluée à la maturité, et elles ont été échantillonnées et analysées pendant une semaine. En saison pluvieuse, une chute de 73%, 83%, 97% de E. coli a été obtenu sept jours après sur la laitue, la carotte et l'aubergine respectivement. En saison sèche, cette baisse a été respectivement de 97%, 95% et 99%. Malgré le fort pourcentage de chute, excepté l'aubergine, le taux de E. coli est resté supérieur aux seuils sanitaires (10 3 E. coli/g). Le pourcentage d'échantillon positif en oeufs et en kyste, varie entre 0 et 25% sur la laitue et la carotte, et entre 0 et 8% sur l'aubergine. Ce qui est un danger pour les consommateurs de ces légumes qui se consomment cru. Afin d'éviter ou de réduire le risque lié à cette pratique, les maraîchers devrait arrêter l'arrosage des cultures au moins une semaine avant la récolte.