International Journal of Pathogen Research

Aims: The essence of this research was to assess the microbiological quality of suya condiments/spices sold at different points in Obio/Akpor (Choba and Rumuepirikom) and Ikwerre (Aluu) Local Government Areas, Rivers State and reduction of microbial load using home microwave oven.

Study Design: Completely randomized design with two replications and average values calculated.

Place and Duration of Study: Food and Industrial Microbiology Laboratory, University of Port and Emadavistic Medical and Research Laboratory, Osaks House, East-West road Port Harcourt for three months.

Methodology: Twelve (12) samples of already formulated suya condiments/spices were sampled from twelve different suya vendors at Choba, Rumuepirikom, and Aluu. Standard methods were used for the microbiological analyses and microbial inactivation using home microwave oven.

Results: The total plate counts (log10 CFU/g) for the samples ranged from 5.35 to 6.29, 5.67 to 6.09, and 5.88 to 6.36 for samples collected from Choba, Rumuepirikom and Aluu respectively. The isolated bacteria on the basis of cultural, physiological and biochemical characteristics were identified as: Staphylococcus spp. (44.4%), Salmonella spp. (11.1%), Bacillus spp. (35.2%), Shigella sp. (1.9%), Enterobacter sp. (3.7%) and Streptococcus sp. (3.7%) from all three locations. A decrease in the microbial load was noted as exposure time increased from 0 to 60 s. (exposure to what)

Conclusion: In all, suya condiments collected for this study were contaminated with bacteria of public health significance which suggest the need for microbial inactivation and an improvement in hygiene practice during processing and storage.

The pulse beetle, Callosobruchus chinensis is one of the major insect pest in stored pulse (i.e. Chickpea seeds) causing 40-50% losses of pulses in storage. Experiments were conducted to study the efficacy of some selected biorational insecticides on mortality of beetle, weight loss of seeds, fecundity and hatchability of pulse beetle, Callosobruchus chinensis under laboratory condition. Among the different botanicals, Neem oil (89.00%) was found the most effective in case of mortality of pulse beetle in direct method followed by Mahogany oil (78.00%) and Karanja oil (62.00%). Among different microbial derivatives, Spinosad was found most effective considering mortality followed by Emamectin benzoate and Abamectin. Among botanicals the highest percentage of weight reduction was observed in Karanja oil (30.18%) and the lowest (22.43%) was in Neem oil while among microbial derivatives the lowest percentage of seed weight reduction was obtained from Spinosad (11.15%) and the highest percentage of weight reduction was obtained from Abamectin (20.37%). No. of eggs laid per female was recorded highest in Karanja oil (24.00) and lowest in Spinosad (19.33). The hatchability percentage was highest in Karanza oil (21.73%) and lowest in Neem (12.89%) and in case of chemical treatment lowest in spinosad (6.05%) and highest in Ebamectin (14.42%). Neem oil and Spinosad were found effective against pulse beetle in storage condition. Therefore, Neem oil and Spinosad might be included in the development of IPM packages for the management of pulse beetle in the storage.

Fishes are highly perishable, and prone to vast variations in quality due to differences in species, feeding habits as well as the environmental and preservation factors. This study Compared the bacteriological quality of Frozen and Salt Water Tilapia Fishes (Oreochromos niloticus and Oreochromos aureus) sold in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Total number of sixty (60) samples were evaluated. Frozen tilapia (36) and salt water tilapia fishes (24) were obtained from the three sampling markets using sterile bags which were properly labelled. The samples were transported to the Laboratory for analyses within 2 hours of collection in a thermos box containing ice pack and  standard microbiological procedures were employed in the bacteriological evaluations. Different parts of the fishes such as Intestine, gills and flesh of the samples were dissected and used for bacteriological analysis. Statistical analyses were carried out using ANOVA and All pairs tukey- kramer. Results obtained from the study showed that the highest number of total heterotrophic bacteria count was obtained from frozen fish gills which was 7.7 x 10⁶±0.98 cfu/g while the least count of 4.7 x 10⁶±0.67 cfu/g was from salt water tilapia fish flesh. Total coliform count ranged from 3.3 x10⁴±0.91 cfu/g to 8.0 x10⁴±0.44^a cfu/g for salt water flesh and frozen fish intestine from different markets respectively. Listeria species count ranged from 1.3 x10⁴± 0.30 cfu/g to 4.3 x10⁴±0.57 cfu/g for salt water fish intestine and frozen fish flesh respectively. Total Salmonella count ranged from 1.0 x10³±0 cfu/g to 6.2x10³±1.30cfu/g for frozen fish flesh and salt water fish intestine. These values were above the WHO permissible limit. Mean values for all the microbial counts were significantly different at (P<0.05) in the two samples across the sampled markets comparatively, frozen fish has more bacteriological load than salt water fish, this may be attributed to the handling, hygiene storage of the respective fishes as well as storage conditions. Listeria species were identified as L. monocytogenes, L. graji, L. seeligeri, L. ivanovii, and L. welshmeri by genomic studies. While three species of Salmonella such as S. arizonae, S. gallinarum, S. typhi were isolated. Other bacterial isolates were identified as Vibrio spp, Bacillus spp Staphylococcus spp Shigella spp Pseudomonas spp. Enterobacter spp. E. coli, Micrococcus spp. Acinetobacter spp. Klebsiella spp. This study revealed that fish sold at different markets in Port Harcourt especially frozen fish, is highly contaminated with different kinds of bacterial pathogens which may constitute potential public health hazard due to the unhygienic nature of fish vendors which predisposes frozen fishes to contamination by pathogenic microorganisms. Therefore proper blanching and heating methods should be employed during preparations of fishes to avoid cross contamination and food intoxication/ poisoning before consumption. It is important that all hazard analysis critical control point be adhered to for good production processes.

Milk is a non-transparent, yellowish-white substance secreted by the mammary glands of all mammals. It contains proteins, minerals, carbohydrates, fat, and vitamins that meet the dietary requirements of the body than any food in a single diet. As a result of their highly nutritious nature, milk supports the rapid growth of many microorganisms, including bacterial pathogens. The aim of this study was to determine the bacteriological quality of raw cow's milk sold by different vendors in Minna central market, Niger state, Nigeria by pour plate method. The highest bacterial count was 7.5 10⁷ CFU/mL and the lowest bacterial count was 2.5 10⁷ CFU/mL. Bacteria isolated from five different cow's milk samples were identified through their cultural and biochemical properties to be Bacillus badius, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Bacillus subtilis and Salmonella typhi.  The frequency occurrence of the bacterial isolates were Bacillus spp. (61.9%), Staphylococcus spp. (19.0%), E. coli (14.3%)and Salmonella spp. (5%). The presence of these bacterial isolates and the colony forming unity count observed in these samples indicated poor hygiene and sanitation during milking and post milking processes. Therefore, efforts should be intensified to pasteurize the milk before consumption in order to guarantee the safety of the consumers.

Coronavirus disease 2019 [1] is an emerging public health problem threatening the life of millions of people. Farmers and cultivators in countries like Nigeria are rapidly starting to bear the impact of the pandemic. The study was conducted to assess the knowledge, perception and practices to COVID-19 among female farmers. A descriptive cross sectional design was used for this study, employing multistage sampling technique to recruit respondents. About (39%) of the respondents fell between 30-39 years with the median age of 35 years; majorities (56.9%) had attended secondary education and (49.2%) were married. More than half (56.4%) were into subsistence farming and they planted mostly tubers and vegetables. About (32.3%) of them did not believe in the existence of COVID-19. To (43.6%) of the farmersCOVID-19 was perceived as a virus, (32.3%) as a deadly disease, (12.8%) as political means of making money and (4.6%) as a high fever just like malaria and typhoid. Around (34.4%) reported the symptoms of COVID 19 as dry cough, (23.6%) as fever, (9%) as sneezing and (7.3%) as difficulty in breathing. Also, about (17.9%) reported that COVID 19 spreads through handshaking, (16.9%) through droplets (sneezing and coughing), (3.1%) through airborne and (20%) don’t know how COVID 19 spreads. With regards to practice, (25.6%) wash their hands 4 to 6 times per day and 5(2.6%) rarely washed their hands, about (28.2%) always wore their facemask and (36.4%) always used alcohol based sanitizer. There was a statistical association between age, level of education and the perception of female farmers to COVID-19 (P < 0.005).Also, an association was found between perception of COVID-19 and practices (P < 0.005). The study revealed poor perception and knowledge to COVID-19, which affects their adherence to public health hygiene. Since majority (73.3%) of the female farmers sourced information from radios/televisions, more awareness should be made in these platforms especially using their local dialect.