Abstract: African swine fever (ASF), a hemorrhagic disease of domestic pigs, is caused by a large enveloped icosahedral arbovirus of the Asfivirus genus in the family Asfarviridae . It has a linear, covalently close-ended, double stranded DNA (dsDNA) genome, 170 – 190 kbp in size. Warthogs (Phaecochoerus aethiopicus ), bushpigs (Potamochoerus porcus ) and soft ticks of the Ornithodoros genus are natural reservoirs of ASF virus (ASFV) in Africa. Serological differentiation between field str...
ABSTRACT Introduction: Globally, prematurity is a major determinant of neonatal morbidity and mortality contributing about 30%-40% of neonatal mortality and 20% to 30% of infant and under-five mortality. The world‟s preterm birth rate keeps rising since the last two decades with an increase of 20% since 1990 in high-income countries. Major risk factors remain unknown. The consequences are enormous with developmental and childhood complications as well as high economic and psycho-social bu...
ABSTRACT Background: Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) is a zoonotic and fatal illness. The fatality rates in outbreaks have ranged from 25% to 90%. An outbreak of EVD hit West Africa in 2014, especially Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone; claiming more than 2000 lives, including 881 health care workers. EVD caused about 378 cases and 192 deaths among healthcare workers in Liberia; Montserrado County was the hardest hit with over 90 cases and about 60 deaths. This research determined risk factors asso...
ABSTRACT East Coast fever (ECF) caused by Theileria parva and African animal trypanosomosis (AAT) caused by some Trypanosoma species are the most devastating cattle diseases that affect cattle productivity in Eastern, central and Southern Africa including Tanzania. A study was conducted in Monduli district in the Maasai steppe ecosystem of Tanzania to determine the prevalence of infections during the dry season when there is increased interaction between livestock and wildlife as a result of...
A B S T RA C T Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is a highly contagious viral animal disease that impact negatively on food security of livestock keepers in Africa due to its fast spread and death of small ruminants. The disease was first reported in West Africa and afterwards Asia, rest of Africa including East Africa and Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. Lack of vaccination and effective application of diagnostic technologies to identify carriers has led to fast spread o...
ABSTRACT Livelihoods of the Maasai people in Northern Tanzania is sustained by Agriculture, specialising mostly in pastoral livestock production which is threatened by vector-borne diseases of which trypanosomosis is one of them. The vulnerability of these communities to trypanosomosis is enhanced by their interaction with wild animals due to their proximity to wildlife interface areas which are highly infested with ticks and tsetse flies. A study was carried out from June 2015 to March 20...
ABSTRACT The Livestock sector plays a vital role in the economies of many developing countries. It provides food, income, employment and possibly foreign exchange. Consumption and trade of livestock and livestock products in developing countries is rapidly growing however, animal diseases have a permanent threat to livestock keepersand major economic implications both through public and private costs of outbreaks. An example of such diseases is transboundary animal diseases (TADs). One of th...
ABSTRACT Emerging and re-emerging diseases in middle and low income countries particularly in agro-pastoral and pastoral communities pose major concern in animal and public health sectors which affect livelihoods and economy of communities. Improved surveillance system approaches could help to ensure prompt detection, reporting, recording and analyzing the incidence of diseases and response to outbreaks. A retrospective epidemiological study, was conducted to investigate common clinical sig...
ABSTRACT Porcine cysticercosis and human neurocysticercosis/taeniosis are two forms of a zoonotic disease caused by Taenia solium tapeworm. There is a perceived inefficient diagnosis and reporting of both forms of this parasitic disease in Tanzania. The aim of this study was to identify the challengesassociated with diagnosis and reporting of both forms of the parasitic disease in medical and veterinary sectors. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Babati, Mbulu, Kongwa, Mbinga and Ny...
Abstract Antiretroviral therapy is currently the major intervention against HIV infection.However, with increased access to treatment through the universal test and treat approach, poten- tial barriers to the overall success of this strategy such as treatment dropouts and treat- ment failure arise.We constructed a deterministic mathematical model of HIV/AIDS to study the possible eects of treatment failure and treatment dropouts on the population dynamics of the infection.The model incorporat...
ABSTRACT Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is pervasive, but under-reported by victims because of the associated stigma and fear of reprisals. In Nigeria, there is paucity of information on IPV burden among female university students. This study was therefore designed to assess the prevalence and determinants of IPV experienced by female students in the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. The study was cross-sectional in design. A four-stage sampling technique was used in selecting the female halls ...
ABSTRACT Background: In 2017, about 37 million people were living with the HIV infection globally. Anti-retroviral therapy (ART) has proven to improve the clinical outcomes of People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) by suppressing viral replication. Identifying PLHIV in the population, linking and retaining them in care to ensure viral suppression are stages in the HIV/AIDS Care Continuum (HACC). An analysis of the care continuum usually reveals fall outs of PLHIV from one stage to the other. The...
ABSTRACT Background: Pneumonia kills more children under-five than AIDS, malaria and measles combined and yet has received far less attention. Each year, more than two million children under-five die of pneumonia in the developing world, compared to an estimated 800,000 children who die from malaria and around 300,000 children under-five who die from AIDS. In Ghana, pneumonia is one of the leading causes of death of under-five mortality and morbidity. Most mothers or care givers do not recogn...
ABSTRACT Introduction: Malaria and typhoid fever cause major health problems especially in low and middle income countries. People in endemic areas are at risk of developing both infections concomitantly. These study was conducted to provide an epidemiological data on co-infection of malaria and typhoid fever in Ga West Municipality Hospital. Methods: A cross-sectional study involving one hundred and fifty seven (157) febrile patients attending Ga West Municipal Hospital, Amasaman from Februa...
ABSTRACT Background: Pneumonia kills more children under-five than AIDS, malaria and measles combined and yet has received far less attention. Each year, more than two million children under-five die of pneumonia in the developing world, compared to an estimated 800,000 children who die from malaria and around 300,000 children under-five who die from AIDS. In Ghana, pneumonia is one of the leading causes of death of under-five mortality and morbidity. Most mothers or care givers do not recogn...