Detection and molecular characterization of a first isolate of rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus in Nigeria.

Rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) was recovered from necropsied rabbits that died during an outbreak characterized by epistaxis, incoordination, paralysis, and multi-organ haemorrhages in Ilorin, Nigeria. The haemagglutination test (HA) and RT-PCR assay targeted against a fragment of the RHDV VP60 gene were performed on liver, spleen, and kidney homogenates; faeces; and urine obtained from the rabbits. Amplicons were purified, sequenced, and phylogenetically analysed. The liver homogenates yielded the highest HA titres while RT-PCR of liver, spleen, and kidneys yielded the expected 1252 bp band. Sequence and phylogenetic analyses revealed that the Nigerian RHDV strain (RHDV/NGR/ILN/001) was 98.57%, 97.95%, and 96.70% homologous with RHDV2 (RHDVGI.2) strains from the Netherlands, Germany, and France, respectively. RHDV/NGR/ILN/001 induced tracheal, intestinal, and mediastinal lymph node haemorrhages, pulmonary oedema and congestion, and enlarged, necrotic liver in experimentally inoculated rabbits. The implications of this study, which is the first report of RHDV in Nigeria, are discussed.

Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Seen at a Testing Centre in Lagos Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: The SARS-CoV-2 infection continues to ravage the global community since it was declared a pandemic. The socio-demographic and clinical characteristics defining the disease are mainly from Europe and Asia. The disease symptomatology is similar to the prevalent diseases in our environment, this could result in the delay in prompt identification and appropriate management of suspected cases toward combating community transmission. This study evaluates the prevalence, socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of positive cases of COVID -19. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study. Data on the socio-demographic, clinical characteristics and the results of the SARS-CoV-2 test of participants at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research [NIMR] Modified Drive-through Centre for COVID-19 test sample collection over two months [24th February 2020- 27th April 2020] were retrieved from the electronic medical records (EMR). Data obtained were analyzed using SPSS version 22.0. RESULTS: A total number of 481 clients were evaluated in this review. The prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the population was 14.6%. The mean age of the positive cases was 42.2 [±15.9] years. The common symptoms reported by the positive cases were fever (40.0%), cough (32.9%), sore throat (17.1%) and running nose (15.7%). Fever depicted statistical significance with positive cases with the majority being of mild to moderate clinical severity. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection among this cohort was 14.6% with a male preponderance. Fever and sore throat were the variables that predicted SARS CoV-2 infection among our cohort.