Helminth parasitc infections were investigated in 150 Anurans collected in parts of the Northern Guinea Savannah during thedry and wet seasons of 2016. The Anurans that were investigated included Amietophrynus regularis, Kassina senegalensis,Afrixalus vittiger, Xenopus tropicalis, Xenopus fischbergi, Pyxiecephalus cf. edulis, Hoplobatrachus occipitalis, Amniranagalamensis and Ptychadena pumilio. Overall prevalence of helminth parasites was 64% (94/150). Seven species ofhelminths belonging to three taxonomic classes were recovered: Monogenea 4%, Trematoda 19.33% and Nematoda 40.67%were identified. Eupolystoma alluaudi (30%) was the only monogenean recorded from the bladder of S. regularis. Tematodesfound were Diplodischus fishthalicus (53.49%) and Haematoloechus micrurus (67.45%) from the rectum and lungs of H.occipitalis, respectively. Nematodes included Camallanus microcephalus from the oesophagus and small intestine of X.fischbergi ( 62.96%) and X. tropicalis (100 %), respectively, Camallanus dimitrovi (25.58%) from the small intestine andrectum of H. occipitalis, an unidentified nematode from the oesophagus and small intestine of X. fischbergi (1.85%) and X.tropicalis (33.33%), and an Aplectana (85.00%%) species from the small intestine and rectum of S. regularis. Except forEupolystoma alluaudi, the infestation level was generally low. Parasite prevalence was higher during the wet (39.33%) thandry (24.67%) season and the difference was not significant (p = 0.17). The prevalence and infection intensity were lower thanthose reported from anurans in southern biotopes of Nigeria. The occurrence of Camallanus macrocephalus is a new recordfor Nigeria, while X. fischbergi and X. tropicalis are new host records for C. macrocephalus. Keywords: Anurans, helminth, prevalence, Northern Guinea Savannah, Nigeria

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Plastic packaging materials constitute a major potential environmental pollutant due to their slow degradation rates. This study aimed to isolate the plastic-degrading bacteria from the solid waste dumpsites of Abuja, Nigeria. Soil samples (n= 72) and plastic materials (bottles and bags) were collected from the dumpsites using soil augers and manual picking, respectively. Bacteriological analysis of the soil samples revealed the recovery of a total of 54 bacterial isolates, which were distributed among the genera of; Proteus sp. ( 33.3 %), Providencia sp. (29.63 %), Pseudomonas sp. (16.67 %), Bacillus sp. (9.26 %), Micrococcus sp. (5.56 %), Escherichia coli (1.85 %), Enterobacter sp. (1.85 %), and Serratia sp. (1.85 %).The bacterial isolates were inoculated into a series of shake flasks containing nutrient broth and pre-sterilized strips (1×1 cm) of plastic bags (0.05-0.0514 g) and plastic bottles (0.05-0.0529 g), and then incubated at 30 o C for 60 d to monitor their biodegradation using the weight loss method. The strips of bottles (0.58-49.00 %) were more susceptible to biodegradation than the plastic bags (0.78-15.40 %) after 60 d of incubation. The results demonstrated that about 6 of the bacterial isolates belong to the two genera of Proteus sp. and Providencia spp., and were considered the best bio-degraders. Molecular characterization of these potent isolates has identified them as Proteus mirabilis strain PPB3 (49.00 %), Proteus mirabilis strain UPMSD3 (32.07 %), Proteus mirabilis strain HH133 (20.41 %), Proteus mirabilis strain SSBIKEN (15.40 %), Providencia vermicola strain M4 (14.96 %), and Providencia vermicola strain 11 (12.20 %). These strains could be considered as potential biodegradation agents for the plastic materials that are prevalent in dumpsites.

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