Abstract: Tsetse-transmitted trypanosomiasis is a disease unique to Africa, affecting both humans and animals. This disease occurs in about 10 million km2 in 37 sub-Saharan countries corresponding approximately to one-third of Africa's total land area, and threatens an estimated 50 million people and 48 million cattle. The estimated annual losses in cattle production alone are in the range of 1.0-1.2 billion dollars. The diagnosis of trypanosomiasis is notoriously difficult as there are no s...
Abstract: Vector-borne diseases (VBDs) are a devastating global health problem. Mosquitoes are amongst the most important vectors of human VBDs. Several measures have been put in place to manage and eliminate these vectors, however they have all faced a variety of setbacks and raising the need to develop other methods of control. The use of bacterial endosymbionts is a highly promising new method to explore for this purpose. This study aimed to identify and characterize Spiroplasma, a matern...
Abstract: Mosquitoes are the primary vectors of arboviral infections. As there are no vaccines or effective therapeutic treatments for these diseases, vector control is an important approach for curbing their circulation or transmission. These vectors spend the first three of their four life stages in aquatic habitats where fitness and efficiency of adult mosquitoes to transmit arboviral infections is greatly influenced. Understanding ecology of mosquitoes in their aquatic habitats is theref...
Abstract: Water is life thus access to safe drinking water is essential to health and a basic human right. Kenya is considered a water scarce country whose water sources are becoming more contaminated through changes in land use and poor solid waste management. This has in turn affected the quantity and quality of portable water available. There are nearly 1.7 billion cases of waterborne diarrheal disease every year with over 760 000 deaths of children under five years. Traditional methods o...
Abstract: Malaria is a strong selective force in the human genome, selecting genes for resistance to disease in human populations living in malaria endemic areas. Selection by malaria has generated genetic variations, providing evolutionary driving force mediating polymorphisms such as Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase deficiency and sickle-cell anaemia. Genes encoding erythrocyte receptors of Plasmodium falciparum especially the sialoglycoproteins, glycophorins A, Band C, which are the main...
Abstract: Honeybees, Apis mellifera, are key contributors to the global economy, nutrition, food security and ecological biodiversity. Despite their robust benefits, declines in honeybee populations have been reported owing to a number of factors. Such include pests and diseases, climate change, poor management practices, change in land usage and low ge-netic diversity. High intra-colonial genetic diversity is associated with resilience and re-sistance to pest and diseases as well as increas...
Abstract: Chilo partellus (Swinhoe) is a major pest of maize in East Africa. Its indigenous natural enemies are unable to regulate its densities to a level acceptable to farmers. Cotesia flavipes Cameron (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a larval parasitoid of C. partellus now established in Kenya, was released in 1993 from Pakistan for the control of this pest. A major constraint in evaluating the establishment of C. flavipes, is the great amount of time spent for its field collection and identifi...
Abstract: Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) has been in use as an agricultural insecticide and as a disease vector control since 1939. Due to its persistence in the environment, its use has been surrounded by controversies regarding its safety to humans and the environment. There has been no reliable and replicable scientific evidence proving its harmful effects to humans though DDT was banned in many developed nations by 1970s. The DDT ban has seen to the reemergence of malaria and othe...
Abstract: Pesticide use has been one of the major factors in improving productivity in agricultural enterprises. Pesticide residues in food and drinking water when ingested affect human health while ecosystems are also affected through loss of biodiversity. The aim of the research was to survey pesticide usage in farms under horticultural production, isolate bacterial strains, evaluate their biodegradation potential of selected pesticides, characterize the bacteria isolates morphologically, ...
Abstract: Chemical pesticides have disadvantages such as high production costs, short persistence, comparative low efficacy, development of resistance to toxin and causing ecological damage. In order to obtain cheaper biopesticides, many locally available and inexpensive agricultural/industrial byproducts have potential as culture media for Bacillus thuringiensis Crystal protein production. In this study, cost-effective media were developed, based on locally available raw materials namely le...
Abstract: Tsetse flies are the sole vectors of Human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) and Animal African trypanosomiasis (Nagana). The insect is attracted to its suitable hosts through external signals which are perceived by olfactory receptors (ORs); thus representing the basis of transmission of the disease to thousands of people and millions of livestock. A developing approach to efficiently identify the key chemical ligands of odorant receptors entails expressing single ORs in...
A grant proposal presenting plans for a research project, possibly closely related to current research project, written in the form of a case for support for a small grant, such as an international short-term visit, a travel grant for a conference, or a studentship. This was submitted to the University of Lincoln as an assessment in one of the modules.
A research news short article featuring two published research papers in the field of biosciences. This was submitted to the University of Lincoln as an assessment.
Abstract Background: Essential oil from Mesembryanthemum edule leaves have been used by the Eastern Cape traditional healers for the treatment of respiratory tract infections, tuberculosis, dysentery, diabetic mellitus, laryngitis and vaginal infections. The investigation of bioactive compounds in the essential oil of this plant could help to verify the efficacy of the plant in the management or treatment of these illnesses. Materials and methods: Various concentrations of the hydro-distill...
Callosobruchus maculatus (Fabricius), also known as cowpea beetle, cowpea weevil or bruchid, is the most important pest of cowpea. Severe C. maculatus infestations can affect 100% of the stored peas and cause up to 60% loss within a few months. Recent reports indicate that extracts of locally available plants can be effective as crop protectants against pre-harvest and post-harvest pests. This Seminar presentation discussed about the 'toxicity of Tithonia diversifolia leaf extracts on Callo...