Hepatitis B infection is a global public health problem and is endemic in sub Saharan Africa. This disease has different modes of transmission and the infection is usually common in developing countries, including Nigeria. This study was carried out to determine the prevalence of HBsAg among patients attending Defence Headquarters Medical Centre, Asokoro, Abuja. The work was a random cross-sectional study that included 260 patients during the period of May to July 2020. A rapid diagnostic test kit was used for the screening for HBsAg. Out of the 260 patients tested, 10 were positive, giving a prevalence of 3.8%. The highest prevalence based on age was found among those aged 27 to 36 years with 2.28% seropositivity. The infection was highest among the low class of socioeconomic status with 5.21%. Patients who were not knowledgeable about the disease had a higher prevalence rate of 13.60% and lastly females had a higher prevalence rate of 4.55% compared to males (3.33). The prevalence of Hepatitis B infection is quite high in the studied population, which could have some public health implications. Recommendations have, therefore, been advanced to control and possibly eradicate the disease in no distant time.

Food is considered safe when it is free from substances that might compromise individual or populations' health and well-being, and is realizable with appropriate food safety cultures. This study accessed 150 food vendors across four of twelve political wards of the Abuja Municipal Area Council, AMAC who consented to the exercise. Results indicated no significant relationship between location with perception and practices of vendors on food safety, which had mean scores of 0.593, and 0.139 respectively. With p value (< 0.05), there is clearly a significant difference between the options measuring food safety (yes = good, and not sure = fair), and option no (poor) having the highest observed count of 78, the null hypothesis was rejected. As a result, it was concluded that, the food safety culture of food vendors in Abuja will not deliver safe foods to consumers. High market prices of food supplies, complex/cumbersome processes involved with meeting government regulations on food safety with weighted means of 3.3133 and 2.8667 respectively, were identified as the prevalent constraints on food safety cultures among food vendors in Abuja. In assuring safety, while maintaining the benefits of food vending to both sellers and buyers, emphasis should be given in to promoting food safety rather than mere revenue generation among both vendors and local government officials who register these vendors.

Listeriosis is an emerging infection with major public health concerns worldwide because of occurrence of associated food-borne outbreak and significant risk of mortality and morbidity. This study aimed to isolate Listeria monocytogenes in raw meat samples in selected markets in Nasarawa State, determine the level of contamination, as well as the antibiogram of the isolates. A total of 60 samples of raw meat were collected from different animals, including 4 samples of cow meat, 4 samples of goat meat and 4 samples of chicken meat, from each market. In all, 60 raw meat samples were collected and analyzed microbiologically using the method of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI, 2009). Out of the 60 samples analyzed Listeria monocytogenes was detected in 32 samples, giving an overall prevalence of 53.5%. Sixteen out of 20 (80%) of cow meat samples, 10 out of 20 (50%) of goat meat samples, and 6 out of 20 (30%) of chicken meat samples were infected with Listeria monocytogenes. All the isolates were further subjected to biochemical analysis for the confirmation of the isolates. The results revealed the presence of Listeria monocytogenes in over 50% of the raw meat samples analyzed. The 53.5% prevalence was considered high and indicated the hazard linked to the consumption of the raw meats sold in Nasarawa State if not properly cooked. The susceptibility tests were also conducted using disc diffusion method. The results revealed that most of the isolates were resistant to most of the commonly used antibiotics such as Septrin, Ampiclox, Erythromycin, Zithromycin, Amoxillin, and Pefloxacin. However, some of the isolates were relatively sensitive to Ciprofloxacin, Sreptomycin, Gentamycin, and Rifampicin. The results signal a chemotherapeutic problem in case of any outbreak of the infection.