Studies on Cyanobacterial Biodiversity in Paper Mill and Pharmaceutical Industrial Effluents.

A thorough knowledge of the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of an industrial waste is a crucial requirement for any attempt at chemical and/or biological treatment of the waste. Hence the present study was aimed to assess the physicochemical characteristics and cyanobacterial study on different industrial effluents. In the present study, effluents from two different places, paper mill and pharmaceutical industries, were selected to determine the cyanobacterial biodiversity. It was revealed that the physicochemical characteristics of both effluents studied were more or less similar. Total 25 species of cyanobacteria were found to be distributed in two different effluents in which twenty two were found in paper mill and fourteen were in pharmaceutical industries. Some of the species of cyanobacteria like Microcystis aeruginosa, Oscillatoria curviceps, O. princeps, Phormidium ambiguum, P. corium and few more were recorded in both the effluent analyzed. The dominant genus was recorded to be Oscillatoria and among themselves its six species were recorded. The abundance of cyanobacteria in these effluents was due to favorable contents of organic matter, rich calcium and nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates with less dissolved oxygen. Therefore, it can clearly stated that physicochemical characters together with biological monitoring of industrial effluents provided converging lines of evidences for evaluation of polluted habitats in this case as in some other studies reported by many researcher. This type of study would be valuable for future pollution abatement programmes.

Epidemiology of swine toxoplasmosis in Taiwan.

From July 1987 to June 1988, serum samples from 3,880 pigs from eight geographic locations in Taiwan were examined for Toxoplasma gondii antibodies using the latex agglutination test (LA test) and IgM-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (IgM-ELISA). A total of 1,073 samples (27.65%) were positive by the LA test. The percentage of positive reactions varied by location as follows: Taoyuan 44.44% (128/288), Taichung 27.60% (183/663), Tainan 22.28% (119/534), Kaohsiung 19.60% (98/500), Pingtung 17.92% (86/480), Hualien 33.95% (163/480), Ilan 31.66% (152/480), Taitung 31.64% (144/455). In the IgM-ELISA 1,828 of 3,880 samples (47.11%) were positive and the distribution of positive reactions were: Taoyuan 59.02% (170/288), Taichung 53.69% (356/663), Tainan 52.24% (279/534), Kaohsiung 54.60% (273/500), Pingtung 18.95% (91/480), Ilan 47.50% (228/480), Hualien 42.70% (205/480), Taitung 49.67% (226/455). On one farm, 20 of 120 sows experienced abortion and stillbirths due to Toxoplasma gondii. Lesions and T. gondii were found in lungs, liver, kidneys, heart, and placenta of one of the aborted fetuses.

Toxoplasmosis--an overview.

Increasing concern over food safety has focussed attention on food-borne parasitic diseases, particularly toxoplasmosis. Infection by the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii is widely prevalent in humans and in food animals. Cats are the main reservoirs of infection because they are only hosts that excrete environmentally resistant oocysts. Toxoplasma gondii infection is transmitted by ingesting undercooked infected meat, congenitally, and via feces of infected cats. The most severe clinical infections occur in congenitally infected children. Toxoplasmosis is a major cause of abortion and neonatal mortality in sheep, goats, and pigs. Strategies to control toxoplasmosis are outlined.