Diarrhoeal diseases collectively constitute a serious public health challenge globally, especially as the leading cause of death in children (after respiratory diseases). Childhood diarrhoea affecting children under the age of five accounts for approximately 63% of the global burden. Accurate and timely detection of the aetiology of these diseases is very crucial; but conventional methods, apart from being laborious and time-consuming, often fail to identify difficult-to-culture pathogens. The aetiological agent of an average of up to 40% of cases of diarrhoea cannot be identified. This review gives an overview of the recent trends in the epidemiology and treatment of diarrhoea and aims at highlighting the potentials of metagenomics technique as a diagnostic method for enteric infections.

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This study was aimed at establishing a water quality database in the study area where none existed previously. Groundwater samples from bore-holes, hand-pump, and hand-dug wells of four densely populated towns in SouthWestern Nigeria were analyzed in respect to physicochemical factors, biological factors, and the metals Nickel (Ni), Lead (Pb), Cadmium (Cd), Zinc (Zn), Copper (Cu), and Iron (Fe) for six consecutive months from September 2012 to February 2013 to give mean values for each town and water source. Total aerobic plate, total coliform bacteria, and Escherichia coli (E. coli) were detected in most of the water samples from the different towns and sources considered. Except for total suspended solids and total solids, the physicochemical parameters of all the samples were within permissible limits. The concentrations Pb, Ni, Cr, and Cd were above the minimum permissible limits. The presence of coliforms and E. coli in the groundwater samples indicates fecal contamination. The microorganisms isolated in this study include Enterobacteriaceae, Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli, Citrobacter, Klebsiella, Pseudomonas, Bacillus, that bore-hole water samples were safer for drinking that water samples from hand-pump, and hand dug wells across the communities.

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Despite the success of antibiotic discovery, infectious diseases remain the second leading source of death worldwide, while the resistance to antibiotics is among the significant problems in the twenty-first century. Medicinal plants are very rich in phytochemicals which can be structurally optimized and processed into new drugs. Nigeria enjoys a diverse collection of medicinal plants, and joint research has ascertained the efficacy of these plants. Plants such as guava (Psidium guajava), ginger (Zingiber officinale), neem (Azadirachta indica), and moringa (Moringa oleifera) have been found to exhibit broad range of antimicrobial activities. Studies on Nigerian plants have shown that they contain alkaloids, polyphenols, terpenes, glycosides, and others with possible therapeutic potentials. The antimicrobial activities of some new compounds such as alloeudesmenol, hanocokinoside, orosunol, and 8-demethylorosunol, identified from medicinal plants in Nigeria, are not yet explored. Further investigation and optimization of these compounds will facilitate the development of new sets of pharmacologically acceptable antimicrobial agents. This review study revealed the efficacy of medicinal plants as an alternative therapy in combating and curtailing the development and survival of multidrug-resistant pathogens coupled with the toxic effects of some antibiotics. Due to enormous therapeutic possibilities buried in medicinal plants, there is a need for more research into unique fingerprints and novel compounds that can provide cure to the neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) of humans and animals facing Africa, especially Nigeria.