Use of cracked maize as a carrier for NDV4 vaccine in experimental vaccination of chickens.

The suitability of V4 vaccine coated on cracked local grain (maize) and its husks and used for oral vaccination of chickens was assessed. Seventy-two (72) birds aged three (3) weeks and above were divided into six groups of twelve (12) birds per group. The birds were bled to determine their prevaccination HI antibody status while five different samples of cracked maize were coated with the V4 vaccine and fed to the chickens orally in each of the groups. All birds in the group including the controls were bled at 7, 14 and 21 days post vaccination to determine the presence and level of antibody response in each of the groups. Results obtained showed that prevaccination haemagglutination inhibition (HI) titre was less than two (log2) in 18% of the birds used in this experiment, however 14% of the birds had an HI titre of < or = 4. The post vaccination antibody titre showed that birds vaccinated with vaccine coated maize gave a post vaccination HI antibody titre of between Log2(6-8). when the coated maize samples were soaked in water at room temperature and assessed after 24 hours, the treated maize parts gave >6.3 log10 EID50 and above while the untreated parts gave < 3.0 log10 EID50. The experiment showed that whole maize and husks, which were not treated, may contain agents which are virus inhibitory. Form this research the treated maize which was soaked and washed gave a higher geometric mean titre, hence tends to be good carriers of the virus (vaccine). It is therefore concluded from this work that processed cracked maize could be a good carrier of NDV4 vaccine. It is hereby recommended that only treated maize could be used as carrier for the V4 vaccine.

Triple La Sota re-vaccinations can protect laying chickens for 3 months against drop in egg production caused by velogenic viscerotropic Newcastle disease virus infection.

One hundred and ten Isa Brown layers were vaccinated with La Sota, once at point of lay at 18 weeks and three times at peak of lay which occurred at 27-29 weeks of age. Thereafter, they were weekly monitored for haemagglutination inhibition (HI) antibody decline. The first batch A of the layers were challenged with velogenic viscerotropic Newcastle disease (vvND) virus (vvNDV) on day 24 post-vaccination (PV), when the geometric mean titre (GMT) was 84.4, batch B were challenged on day 48 PV at GMT of 42.2, while batch C were challenged on day 97 PV at GMT of 21.1. The individual chicken HI antibody titres of the 10 layers in batch C at the day of challenge were: 7 layers had HI titres of 16, 2 layers had HI titres of 32 and 1 layer had HI titres of 64. Each challenge in the three batches produced no clinical signs including drop in egg production. But there was initial swelling of the spleen followed by atrophy with high antibody responses. The virus was recovered in all the cloacal swabs on days 3-9 post-challenge (PC) at low titres. On days 145 PV and 48, post-Batch C challenge the remaining hyperimmunized unchallenged layers demonstrated a drop in total % egg production (p < .05) and changes in egg quality. The HI GMT was 256. The virus was recovered in all the cloacal swabs on days 3-9 following appearance of clinical signs. There was no mortality in the experiment. Based on the above observations, it is concluded that triple La Sota re-vaccination can protect layers against a drop in egg production in areas where vvNDV infection is enzootic.

Hepatitis C Virus infection in apparentenly healthy individuals with family history of diabetes in Vom, Plateau State Nigeria.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is an important public health problem worldwide. Its association with, and predisposing nature for diabetes mellitus (DM) has been long established. This research was carried out to determine the prevalence of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) amongst people with possible genetic predisposition to diabetes mellitus living in and around Vom, Plateau State, Nigeria. 188 subjects were screened after they filled a structured questionnaire to determine some of their demographic data, social habits and possible risk factors. 5 ml of blood was collected from each subject and sera separated out. Biotech's third generation ELISA Kit for HCV antibodies was used for the screening. Liver enzyme analysis was carried out on positive samples to determine their disease status. A prevalence of 14.36% was recorded with the highest seropositive group being those in the age bracket of 18 - 37 years. 13(13.40%) of males and 14(15.38%) of females were sero-positive. Liver enzyme analysis of sero-positive subjects showed increased levels which may imply early onset of liver damage. These result showed that these individuals could later suffer diabetes which may be triggered by their HCV infection if not treated. This is not over-looking the economic significance of their ill health, assuming they progress to cirrhotic HCV or develop hepatocelluar carcinoma due to HCV chronicity.