No abstract

Dengue fever is a zoonosis maintained in nature by mosquitoes transmitting virus between non-human primate species, most of which develop clinically in apparent infection. It has been found to be endemic in Africa and beyond. A survey for Dengue virus IgM antibody was carried out in Ogbomoso (urban and rural areas) using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (WKEA Med Supplies Corp, Dengue fever virus ELISA Kit (China),) to determine the seroprevalence and true incidence of dengue virus in Ogbomoso. A total of 186 apparently healthy individuals were recruited into the study. The sera of 93 subjects who consented to participate were collected. The mean age of the subjects tested was 37.6±0.67. Anti-Dengue virus IgM antibodies were found in 16/93, (17.2%). The highest prevalence of anti-Dengue 28.6% was found in persons whose ages were between 0-15 years, males (18.9%), civil servants (26.3%) and urban dwellers (21.3%). The findings from this study show that there is primary infection of this virus in Ogbomoso and suggest the need for preventive and control measures against dengue fever virus.

The resistance pattern and mechanisms of bacterial isolates obtained from clinical origin, soil, industrial effluent, orange juice products and drinking water were studied using commonly used antibiotics. The microbial load of the water samples, industrial effluent and orange juice products were 1.0 x 10(1)-2.25 x 10(6), 2.15 x 10(5), and 3.5 x 10(4)-2.15 x 10(5) cfu mL(-1), respectively. The faecal coliform test revealed that only two out of twenty orange juice products had MPN of 2 and 20, the MPN of water ranged from 1-> or = 1800, while the effluent had MPN of > or = 1800. The bacterial isolates that were isolated include E. coli, S. aureus, P. vulgaris, S. marcescens, S. pyogenes, B. cereus, B. subtilis, Micrococcus sp., Klebsiella sp., P. aeruginosa, and Enterobacter sp. Also, clinical and soil isolates of P. aeruginosa were used in the study. Among the eight antibiotics tested for resistance on five strains of each bacterium, seven different resistance patterns were observed among the bacterial isolates obtained from water, effluent and orange juice products. Among the clinical and soil isolates of P. aeruginosa, four multiple-drug resistance patterns were obtained. Thirty strains of E. coli and S. aureus were tested for beta-lactamase production and fourteen strains, seven each of E. coli and S. aureus that had high Minimum Inhibitory Concentration values (MIC) for both Amoxycillin and Cloxacillin were positive.

Forty samples of twenty brands of sachet orange juice products were examined microbiologically. All the products were contaminated with bacteria and yeasts. The organisms encountered include Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Saccharomyces sp, Rhodotorula sp, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes and Micrococcus sp. The resistances of thirty bacterial strains isolated from orange juice products to the commonly used antibiotics were studied. About 66.67% of the isolates were resistant to augmentin and amoxycillin; 63.33% to cotrimoxazole, 56% to cloxacillin, and 23.33% to tetracycline. Resistances of 10, 6.67, and 3.33% were obtained for gentamicin, erythromycin and chloramphenicol respectively. Among the eight antibiotics tested, seven patterns of drug resistance were obtained. Six out of these are multiple-drug resistance with number of antibiotics ranging between 2 to 8. While MIC of amoxycillin ranged between 10-25mg/ml for the strains of E. coli, MIC of 10-20mg/ml was obtained for the strains of S. aureus. The MIC for cloxacillin was 0.1-1.0mg/ml for E. coli strains, and 0.01-1.0mg/ml for S. aureus strains. In all, ten strains of the bacterial isolates had evidence for the production of -lactamases.

Two different coatings were developed from Corn Starch (CSME) and Carboxymethylcellulose (CMCME) and their effects were investigated on the quality and storability of orange fruits. The two experimental coatings were: CSME and CMCME both mixed with 75mg/ml of crude extract of Moringa Oleifera. The following parameters were measured: Weight loss, ascorbic acid content and firmness. Four hundred and eighty (480) orange fruits were stored for seven weeks at ambient temperature. The overall result showed that polysaccharides coating from (CSME) and (CMCME) on orange fruits when compared to untreated in the following order: (CSME) > (CMCME) >Control in extending its shelf life.