RESUMEN
The research was designed to investigate the parasitic fauna of Anurans from cocoa farms in Ondo state. Amphibians are one of the most threatened groups of vertebrates. Many reasons are attributed to the decline of amphibian species such as global warming, habitat destruction and modification, others include: exploitation, pesticideuse, introduced species, ultraviolet-Bradiation (UV-B), pollution, parasites and diseases. A total of 31 frogs from 4 genera, Hemisus, Ptychadena, Ranaand Xenopus and 7 toads from 1 genus, Sclerophrys were examined. 9 frogs were collected from Oluwateru farm at Iwoye Village; 7 frogs were collected from Folorunso farm at Ako-Igbatoro and 15 frogs from Obodulu farm in Idanre. 5 toads were collected from Oluwateru farm at Iwoye Village and 2 toads from Obodulu farm in Idanre. In all cases collection was done between 20:00hrs and 05:00hrs. Collected specimens were transported in sealed but ventilated containers to the laboratory where identification was done to species level. The frogs were anaesthetized until death in absolute chloroform soaked in cotton wool placed inside kill-jar for 3 minutes in the laboratory.Original researchArticle The gastrointestinal tracts were cut open and the contents of the various sections were put into separate Petri dishes containing normal saline. The skin and the bladder were observed directly under a dissecting microscope for the presence of cysts and monogeneans. The parasites were fixed and preserved in 70% alcohol following standard procedure. Parasites recovered from the gastrointestinal tracts of the anurans include Cosmocerca ornata, Deising, 1861,Cosmocerca cummutata, Diesing, 1851 Paracosmocerca mucronata, Kung and Wu, 1945, Ampliceacum africanum, Taylor, 1924, Gendria liberrei Bain and Philipon, 1969 and Chenospirura asturiHsu, 1957Others were Procamallus brevis Kung, 1948 and Camallanus dimitrovi Durette-Desset and Batcharov, 1974. Some of the parasites are zoonotic while a few others are established parasites of African fishes and water Birds raising probable public health concerns from the findings. Further works aimed at unravelling the biodiversity of hosts and parasites in thelush ecosystem of Ondo state, as well as identification of organisms involved in the life cycle are noted.
RESUMEN
Funding of the health care sector in Nigeria is faced with enormous challenges that must be overcome if quality and effective health care service is to be made available to the people. While health care research has focused largely on the provision, access, and quality of the facilities, this study investigated the mechanism of public health care financing in Ondo State, Nigeria. The data used for the study were from both primary and secondary sources. A multi-stage sampling technique was adopted to select and elicit information from the respondents. The 18 local government areas (LGAs) in Ondo state were segregated into three senatorial districts; three LGAs were randomly selected from each senatorial district. With the aid of an interview guide, in-depth interview were held with the chairmen of the three LGAs. Information sought included the various sources of finance and health care financial challenges. Descriptive statistics as well as trend analysis were used for data analysis. The major challenges of health care financing were inadequate funding by government, high out-of pocket-payment, inadequate implementation of health care financing policy and corruption. This study concluded that health care financing was inadequate in the study area and recommended an increase in government budgetary allocation and prompt release of funds for public health care, adequate implementation of health care policies as well as proper monitoring and evaluation of fund utilization to discourage corruption and mismanagement.
RESUMEN
Aim: Typhoid fever is caused by Salmonella enteric serovar Typhi and S. enteric serovar Paratyphi A. B. C. Accurate diagnosis of this illness will greatly reduce the mortality and morbidity associated with it. This study therefore evaluated the available diagnostic methods for typhoid fever among 44 clinical laboratories in Ondo State of Nigeria. Methods: A simple but well-structured questionnaire filled by the most senior scientist, was administered on forty-four (44) out of the forty seven clinical laboratories registered by government and the monitoring agency to assess the various methods used by individual laboratory. Results: All respondent laboratories used serological method (Widal’s Agglutination Test) while none used neither bone marrow culture nor molecular technique (PCR). Widal tests were reported by 93.2% of the laboratories without titration. Blood and stool cultures were sparingly and inconsistently used by about 48% of the laboratories, thereby being unable to generate information about species prevalence and susceptibility pattern of the pathogens. Conclusion: The contribution of the clinical laboratories to the seeming treatment failure of typhoid fever became obvious from this study since no proper treatment or control measures can be effective without proper diagnosis. It is therefore suggested that our clinical laboratories be properly equipped for accurate diagnosis of typhoid fever.