Background Potable water have been shown to be a source of contamination due to poor handling during its supply chain process. It is common practice for sachet water, a widely consumed potable water across Nigerian and West African cities to be exposed to sunlight for hours daily before they are sold to consumers. This practice coupled with the polyethene plastic packaging could cause leaching of heavy metals and other chemical components of the plastic package into the sachet water, and also cause its biological quality to deteriorate posing great public health concerns which prompted this study. Methods Three (3) sachet water brands (n = 4 per brand) were collected and exposed to sunlight daily for 14, 28, and 48 days were analyzed for heavy metals, total hardness, and other physico-chemical parameters using standard protocols. In addition, we also evaluated total heterotrophic bacteria and coliform counts, and antibiotic susceptibility of resulting isolates. Results All brands of the exposed sachet water recorded increased levels of physico-chemical parameters (except pH) and heavy metals compared to the control group in a linear fashion to exposure time. Zn was the most ingested from sachet water brands. The ADD, HQ, and HI evaluations revealed that consuming these brands of sachet water exposed to different durations of sunlight could be expose consumers to Cr, Cd, Pb, As, and Ni toxicities. The CR of Cr, As, and Ni in all brands of the sachet water exposed to sunlight were above the safe value of 10− 4, indicating a likelihood of the population having cancer after over 60 years of exposure. Ni posed the highest carcinogenic risk in all sachet water brands exposed to sunlight for 42 days. All the brands evaluated failed to meet the World Health Organization and national safety limits for total heterotrophic bacteria and total coliform counts. Six out nine isolates elaborated extracellular amylase while all produced protease, enzymes linked with biofilm formation and pathogenicity, respectively. Furthermore, the isolates showed multi-drug resistance. Conclusion The potential health risk inherent in this practice has significant public health implications for the consumers across Nigeria and the West African region.

Urinary schistosomiasis which is transmitted by schistosome species is the major cause of liver and bladder pathologies and still remains a serious threat in the underdeveloped and developing world. This study evaluates the prevalence of Schistosoma haematobiuminfection  among school aged children in Biase, Obubra and Ogoja Local Government Areas of Cross River State. Five hundred (500) pupils were examined and selected randomly from a public primary and secondary schools in the study area. Freshly passed mid-day urine samples were collected and transferred to the laboratory where there were examined for the presence of Schistosoma haematobium eggs. Study participants were grouped into three age groups,8-10 years. 11-13 years, and 14-16 years old. Overall prevalence of S. heamatobium was (13.6%). Infection was more prevalent among the age group of 14-16years, the percentage of prevalence and intensity of infection were higher in males (14.1%) than in females (6.9%). Inter simple sequence repeats of PCR test performed for the collected urine samples using ISSR test of the Dral-1 gene reveals 73% study subjects had a polymorphism for UPA02 and UPA13 primers, while primer UPA13 showed 24% polymorphism. Total number of polymorphic bands were 2 each for primers UPA02 and UPA13 primers while UPA12 showed only one polymorphic band. Major allele frequencies (MAF) were 0.53 for each of UPA02 and UPA 13 primers but showed 0.71 frequency with UPA12 primer. Allele frequencies (AF) also varied slightly among the primers used. UPA02 and UPA 13 had allele frequencies of 8 each while UPA12 had 4 allele frequencies (Table 13). Nei’s genetic diversity indices for the primers revealed variations among the different primers. UPA02 and UPA13 Nei’s gene diversity of 0.64 each while primer UPA12 showed gene diversity of 0.28. Results of polymorphic information content showed that primers UPA02 and UPA13 discriminately revealed a PIC of 0.68 while UPA12 discriminated 0.28 PIC. This study therefore, revealed a critical need for targeting health campaign towards school age children and heads of households in order to empower them with the basic knowledge to recognize, treat and manage their health challenges.Applications of one to two doses of praziquantel considerably reduced the severity of urinary Schistosomiasis in the study area.

Aim: Sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas [L.] Lam) were studied to assess the influence of x-ray irradiation on the morphological performance. Place and Duration of Study: Samples were collected from National Root Crop Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike, irradiation was done in the x-ray unit of a medical laboratory, planting and data analysis were done at the experimental farm and laboratory of the Department of Genetics and Biotechnology, University of Calabar. Methodology: Stems of Sweet potatoes were grouped and non-control groups irradiated at different x-ray doses, planted and morphological parameters analyzed. Results: The results showed no significant difference in the treatments for parameters such as number of leaves, leaf area, leaf length, plant height, leaf width and days to sprouting when kilo voltage (kV) was constant at 40kV and milli Amperes per second (mAs) varied from 1.6mAs to 3.2mAs. There was also no significant difference in the treatments for parameters such as leaf area, leaf length, leaf width and days to sprouting when mAs was constant at 1.6mAs and kilo voltage (kV) varied from 40kV to 100kV. The results also showed that the low doses of x-ray irradiation did not cause aberrations in the morphological performance of sweet potato. Conclusion: These findings necessitate the need for adequate irradiation doses in the use of ionizing radiations on crops in order to maintain and improve their varieties.

Aim: Zooplanktons in the Calabar Great Kwa River were studied to assess the effect of pollution from human activities around the river on their respective abundance. Place and Duration of Study: Samples were collected at the Esuk Atu and Esuk Atimbo stations of the Calabar Great Kwa River. Identification of Zooplanktons was carried out at the Laboratory of the Department of Genetics and Biotechnology, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria. Methodology: Collected samples were preserved, transferred to the laboratory, identified using a dissecting microscope and classified according to their different taxonomical groups. Results: The Results showed that zooplankton abundance and distribution recorded in the stations were low due to pollution and interference from high human activities around the river such as domestic solid wastes, sewage waste waters, industrial effluents, pesticides, sand mining activities, hydrocarbons and other toxic substances. In Esuk Atu, the total abundance of zooplanktons in the periods of sampling were 12, 6, 3 and 11, while the numbers of taxa represented in the periods of sampling were 4, 3, 1 and 4. In Esuk Atimbo, the total abundance of zooplanktons in the periods of sampling were 7, 5, 9 and 10 while the numbers of taxa represented in the periods of sampling were 3, 3, 3 and 2. The zooplankton taxa identified in station 1(Esuk Atu) are Cladoceran (38%), Ostracoda (22%), Copepoda (19%), Rotifera (12%), Lepidoptera (6%) and Protozoa (3%). The zooplankton taxa identified in station 2 (Esuk Atimbo) are Copepoda (26%), Cladoceran (23%), Nemata (23%), Lepidoptera (16%), Rotifera (6%), Polycheata (3%) and Paguridae (3%). Conclusion: These findings necessitate the need for the regulation and control of pollution from human activities around the Calabar Great Kwa River so as to ensure that the river is free from harmful contaminants thereby preserving the zooplanktons and other relevant organisms.