Abstract: Wheat bread is among stable foods that are nutritionally imbalanced, thus enrichment is crucial. We evaluated the nutritional impact of high-valued wheat bread enriched with varying levels of meat powder from hen fed diet with insect (Hermetia illucens)-based meal. Crude protein and ash in bread increased with increasing inclusion of meat powder. Limiting amino acids like lysine and threonine in enriched bread products increased by 3.0–4.5 and 1.8–3.1-folds, respectively. Omega...
Abstract: Tungiasis, a neglected tropical parasitosis, disproportionately afects children. Few empirical studies have reported neurocognitive and mental health outcomes of children with ectoparasitic skin diseases like tungiasis. Pathophysiology of tungiasis suggests it could detrimentally afect cognition and behaviour. This study pioneered the investigation of neurocognitive and mental health outcomes in children with tungiasis
Abstract: Tomato, Solanum lycopersicum L. (Solanaceae) is severely damaged by the South American tomato moth, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae). Surveys among producers confirmed that the use of synthetic insecticides increased since the invasion of T. absoluta. The risks associated with the residual effect of insecticides in edible food and the negative effects it may have on ecosystem services,also increased. The aim of this project was to investigate the management of T. ...
Abstract: Malaria continues to be among the top leading causes of illness and deaths in Africa. Its elimination is challenging in high transmission areas using insecticide-based intervention tools alone. Understanding the ecology and behaviour of disease vectors, including the olfactory cues, are essential for the development of novel, insecticide-free control tools. Recent work has highlighted that selected graminoid plants release volatile chemicals that attract malaria vectors. However, t...
Description: A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Zoology, Kenyatta University.
Abstract: Anopheles mosquitoes are colonized by diverse microorganisms that may influence hosts‟ biology and vectorial capacity. Resident Anopheles bacterial symbionts isolated from these hosts are known to influence traits such as generational fitness, survival, host seeking,and infectivity of pathogens such asPlasmodium falciparum.Eukaryotic symbionts such as fungi residing in the gut of Anopheles gambiaecould confer similar phenotypes, but are undexplored. It was hypothesized that fungi...
Abstract: Dengue (DENV) and Yellow fever (YFV) viruses are medically important flaviviruses that are transmitted by Aedes mosquito vectors of the subgenus Stegomyia especially Aedes aegypti and Aedes bromeliae, respectively, in East Africa.Urbanization has been identified as a major driver in the emergence of these diseases because of the permissive environment it creates promoting the convergence of susceptible human hosts and local vectors. However, while dengue outbreaks have mainly been ...
Abstract: The African wild silkmoth, Gonometa postica Walker produces silk of high quality. A study on the spatial distribution and biology of G. postica on host and non-host plants and the parasitism rates and reproductive strategy of its parasitoids was conducted during the long and short rainy seasons in 2006 and 2007. Three sites, each in the Imba and Mumoni forests of Mwingi eastern Kenya, were selected for sampling. One hundred trees of the host plants of G. postica were sampled at eac...
Abstract: The livestock tropical bont tick, Amblyomma variegatum Fabricius, is a pest of major economic importance in Africa where it is the vector of Cowdria ruminantium that causes Heartwater, disease in cattle. Its control has relied mainly on commercial acaricides, which have many problems associated with, environmental pollution, development of resistant strains of ticks against acaricides and escalating costs. It has, therefore, become necessary to look for alternative methods of tick ...
Abstract: The rate and the degree of reversible change in the phase characteristics of the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria (Forskal), on crowding and uncrowding have been compared by two new parameters, aggregation pheromone titre (as measured by released phenylacetonitrile) and haemolymph pigment composition (as measured by absorbance ratio at 460 and 680nm) with colour and morphometrics. Changes in the four parameters followed different patterns. Adults of the F0 generation resulting ...
Abstract: The Malagasy migratory locust, Locusta migratoria capito (Saussure, 1884), is the most destructive pest in the Malagasy agricultural production system. The recent plague between 1996 and 2000 during which economic losses amounting to ca. US$ 50 million mainly in rice fields, were recorded, is an indication that, the locust menaces is far from being resolved in Madagascar. Control operations against locusts have focused entirely on large-scale application of synthetic chemical insec...
Abstract: Trypanosomes are protozoans causing African trypanosomiasis, a neglected tropical disease in Africa affecting humans and animals. Despite advancement in African Trypanosomiasis research, the disease continues to threaten millions of people and animals in Sub-Saharan Africa. Control methods have focused on the use of drugs which have adverse effects and vector control methods which have proved to be ecologically unsustainable while vaccines are still not available due to antigenic v...
Abstract: Trichogramma species parasitise eggs of Lepidoptera and have been extensively used in augmentative biological control. Studies were conducted during 1997-2001 on the native egg parasitoids occurring in Kenya. The objectives of the study were (i) to identify the native egg parasitoids that attack Helicoverpa armigera and Plutella xylostella, (ii) to study the conventional and molecular taxonomy of the native Trichogramma species, (iii) to evaluate the response of two native Trichogr...
Abstract: Manduca sexta vitellogenin is a phosphoglycolipoprotein (Mr - 500,000) that contains two copies of the apoproteins (apovitellogenin-1, Mr 180,000 and apovitellogenin-11, Mr 45,000), 13 percent lipids, 3 percent carbohydrates and 0.6 percent phosphorus. The two apoproteins are immunologically distinct polypeptides and apovitellogenin-11 is not completely accessible to the aqueous environment in the intact molecule. The carbohydrate moiety located on apovitellogenin-1 has a high mann...
Abstract: Integrated pest management (IPM) systems utilizing the use/release of the parasitoid Diadegma semiclausum have been developed to replace the pesticides only approach to diamondback moth (DBM) Plutella xylostella (L.), worldwide the worst insect pest of cabbage family. The successful introduction of the DBM natural enemy in Kenya as a biological control agent under the IPM system is a good achievement towards a solution to excessive insecticides use. Data collections were done for 1...