Samples of sundried herbal drug plant parts stored for sale were purchased from four herbal markets located in Ibadan, Nigeria. The plant parts were analysed for mycoflora associated with their storage. Fungal colony counts ranged from 0.60 x 10(2) to 3.50 x 10(2) within the period of the survey. Twenty eight fungal species were isolated with the species of Aspergillus niger, A. flavus, Fusarium moniliforme, Trichoderma viride, Penicillium expansum and Mucor fragilis being the dominant ones. There were marked differences between the flora obtained on fresh plant parts and those stored for sale. The results obtained showed that herbal drug plant pieces stored for sale in the markets are hazardous for human health. There is therefore the need for some form of quality control and decontamination before they are used for herbal drug preparations.

The genus Aeromonas has been incriminated as the causative agent of a wide range of human infection (7-9). Several studies have shown that aquatic animals harbour the hydrophila-punctata aeromonads (12,18). Homoiothermic large animals such as cattle were reported by Wohlgemuth et al. (20) and Adams et al. (1) in separate studies to be susceptible to infection with the organisms. Other workers (2,15) have isolated Aeromonas hydrophila from domestic animals. The first large-scale study of its incidence in domestic animals was by Gray (11); his work, however, did not involve diseased animals. Although human Aeromonas infection has been related to water exposure since aeromonads normally inhabit water sources (3,17), the real source of infection has not been clearly defined. The role of animal reservoirs as a potential source of human infection is much more obscure. Faeces and droppings of diarrhoeic animals have not been extensively cultured for Aeromonas nor has there been any attempt to correlate this with human diarrhoeic syndrome. An outbreak of diarrhoea was recorded in a farm in Ogun State, Nigeria. This study presents a report concerning the incidence of Aeromonas species in enteritis involving livestock in the farm. There does not appear to be any record of the recovery of A, hydrophila in livestock in Nigeria, so the following may be of interest. Faecal samples which were watery with mucous but without the presence of blood in most cases were collected in separate sterile containers from diarrhoeic animals including 75 chickens, 28 goats, 42 rabbits, 56 pigs, and 21 sheep, and were processed in the laboratory within a few hours of collection. Sampling was done on three occasions covering a period of 12 days while the disease lasted. Fresh faeces

The ability of fungi isolated from stored herbal drug plants to produce mycotoxins in semisynthetic media was studied. The results obtained show that aflatoxins and ochratoxin A, were produced by Aspergillus flavus, A. parasiticus and A. ochraceus isolates. The time-production courses of aflatoxins B1, B2, 1 and ochratoxin A in crude herbal drug preparations show that more of these toxins were produced with increase in time of storage of the drugs. The results indicate that the potential exists for the toxigenic strains to elaborate mycotoxins in a large quantity in herbal drug substrates than in semisynthetic media.

Feathers, nails and beaks of one hundred and twenty common birds in Nigeria, Chicken [50], Ducks [20], Turkeys [15] and Pigeons [35], were examined using the soil plate technique for their mycoflora. 15 species of fungi were recovered and they belong to the genera Chrysosporium, Trichophyton, Microsporum, Aspergillus, Fusarium, Mucor Rhizopus, Penicillium and Trichoderma. Microsporum gypseum was the species most frequently isolated (35% of the samples). The most common genus was Chrysosporium and C. keratinophilum was the species with the highest frequency in the genus (28.3%). The species isolated included potential pathogens and mycotoxin producing fungi (Aspergillus flavus, A. niger, Fusarium oxysporum).

Samples of traditionally smoke-dried Clarias gariepinus (Burchell), Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus (Lacepede), Sarotherodon galilaeus (Trewavas), Heterotis niloticus (Cuvier) and Heterobranchus bidorsalis (Geoffroy) were obtained from Oja Oba Market, Ago-Iwoye, Nigeria and examined for fungal infestation. The fish samples incubated on potato dextrose agar (PDA) for 7 days showed fungal infestation. Fungi isolated and identified included Mucor sp., Aspergillus sp., Rhizopus sp. and Fusarium sp. Six fungal species were isolated from C. nigrodigitatus, five each on C. gariepinus and H. niloticus.