Occurrence of Cucumber mosaic virus Subgroups IA and IB Isolates in Tomatoes in Nigeria.

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is a major economic crop consumed globally in fresh or processed forms. During a routine field survey of major tomato-producing areas of southwestern Nigeria in May/June 2013, tomato plants cv. Roma VF showing virus-like symptoms including stunting, chlorosis, and narrowing of leaf blades were observed in 10 farmers' fields with varying levels of incidence averaging ~27%. Moderate to high aphid infestations were also observed in affected fields, and fruit production was significantly impacted based on visual observations. Since symptoms observed on affected plants are similar to those described for Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) infection in tomato (5), leaf tissue samples collected from a total of 92 tomato plants across 10 commercial farms were subjected to antigen coated plate (ACP)-ELISA essentially as described previously (2). In ACP-ELISA using a CMV polyclonal antibody, 24 of the 92 samples (26.1%) derived from 7 of the 10 survey locations spread across Oyo, Ogun, Ekiti, and Osun states of southwestern Nigeria tested positive for CMV. Based on the ACP-ELISA results, one randomly selected sample from each of the CMV-positive survey locations, seven samples in total, was subjected to total nucleic acid extraction (1) followed by one step-single tube RT-PCR using primers CMV1/CMV2 and conditions described previously (4) with appropriate virus-positive and -negative controls. A ~500 bp DNA band was amplified from these seven ACP-ELISA-positive samples, thus confirming the presence of CMV. To further confirm these results and to enable molecular typing of CMV isolates from southwest Nigeria, the amplified DNA fragments were precipitated with the addition of 70% ethanol and centrifugation and directly sequenced using the ABI 3130xL Genetic Analyzer (Applied Biosystems, California) at the Bioscience Center of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Nigeria. Following the removal of primer- and 3'UTR-specific sequences, the remaining 366-bp partial CP-specific sequences (GenBank Accession Nos. KM091952 to 58) and corresponding sequences of global CMV isolates obtained from GenBank were subjected to multiple alignments using the MEGA 6.0 software. This analysis showed that tomato-infecting CMV isolates from southwest Nigeria shared 91.6 to 99.4% and 94.9 to 99.1% nucleotide (nt) and amino acid (aa) identities among themselves and 91.6 to 98.0% and 94.1 to 98.3%, 89.4 to 94.1% and 93.2 to 98.3%, and 75.2 to 78.8% and 84.0 to 87.3% with corresponding nt and aa sequences of representatives of CMV isolates belonging to subgroups IA (D10538), IB (AB008777), and II (M21464), respectively. Maximum likelihood phylogenetic analysis revealed the clustering of four and three CMV isolates obtained in this study into subgroups IA and IB, respectively, with >70% bootstrap support. CMV has been detected in tomato seeds (3) and its very wide host range includes cultivated crops and weed species (5). It is therefore plausible that contaminated seed lots and alternative weed and crop host plants serve as sources of CMV inoculum to cultivated tomato in affected farms. Although CMV has been reported from tomato from several countries worldwide, to our knowledge, this is the first empirical evidence for the occurrence of CMV subgroups IA and IB in cultivated tomato in Nigeria. References: (1) S. L. Dellaporta et al. Plant Mol. Biol. Rep. 1:19, 1983. (2) J. d'A. Hughes and S. A. Tarawali. Trop. Sci. 39:70, 1999. (3) K. H. Park and B. J. Cha. Res. Plant Dis. 8:101, 2002. (4) S. Wylie et al. Aus. J. Agric. Res. 44:41, 1993. (5) T. A. Zitter and J. F. Murphy. Plant Health Instructor. DOI: 10.1094/PHI-I-2009-0518-01, 2009.

Septicaemia in high risk neonates at a teaching hospital in Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the incidence, predisposing factors, clinical features, bacteriological pattern and antibiotic sensitivity in septicaemia in high-risk newborns. DESIGN: A prospective study. SETTING: Neonatal unit, Ife State Hospital, a unit of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex (OAUTHC), Ile-Ife, Nigeria. SUBJECTS: All newborns admitted with clinical features and/or risk factors suggestive of neonatal septicaemia from February 1994 to March 1995. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Culture results and mortality rates. RESULTS: The incidence of neonatal septicaemia among new born was 22.9 per 1000 livebirths. The predisposing perinatal factors were low socio-economic status, lack of antenatal care, maternal peripartum pyrexia and congenital malformations. Gram-positive bacteria were found to be the most prevalent causative organisms (59.4%). Staphylococcus aureus (36.2%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (18.8%) and Coagulase negative Staphylococcus (15.9%) were the commonest causes of septicaemia. Meningitis and UTI were associated diagnoses in 16.7% and 18.2% of the septicaemic babies, respectively. The bacterial isolates showed a high degree of in-vitro antimicrobial resistance. However, all the isolates were sensitive to ofloxacin. Amongst the commonly used antibiotics, gentamicin had the lowest resistance. The overall mortality rate was 33.3%. CONCLUSION: Improvement in the socio-economic status of the populace and availability of affordable antenatal care would reduce the incidence of neonatal septicaemia in Nigeria. Continuous surveillance in every unit, as well as close attention to preventive strategies would be necessary to reduce morbidity and mortality from neonatal septicaemia. We recommend the inclusion of gentamicin in the initial treatment of septicaemia in the neonatal unit of OAUTHC, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

Lower genital tract infections in infertile Nigerian women compared with controls.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the possibility that infertile Nigerian women have a higher rate of cervical colonisation with pathogenic and facultative organisms than fertile controls. DESIGN: The prevalence of common microorganisms in the vagina and endocervical canals of infertile women was compared with that of pregnant controls. SETTING: The Obafemi Awolowo University Hospital Maternity Centre. SUBJECTS: 92 infertile women were compared with 86 pregnant controls. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: rates of isolation of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Candida albicans, Trichomonas vaginalis and other facultative organisms in cases and controls. RESULTS: The rate of isolation of Neisseria gonorrheae was 17.4% among infertile women compared with 10.5% in the group of pregnant women (p > 0.05). There was no significant difference between the groups in the rate of isolation of Candida albicans, Trichomonas vaginalis and other facultative organisms. High rates of isolation of microorganisms were observed in both groups. However, women with secondary infertility had higher rate of carriage of Neisseria gonorrheae, Candida albicans and Staphylococcus aureus as compared with women with primary infertility. Nearly 15% of infertile women had previous episodes of pelvic inflammatory disease and 26% had had induced abortions. A positive history of vaginal discharge was a poor predictor of vagina and endocervical carriage of microorganisms. CONCLUSIONS: High rates of pathogenic organisms exist in the lower genital tract of infertile women and controls. Women with secondary infertility are more likely to have pathogenic organisms than women with primary infertility. A policy of routinely screening women for lower genital tract infections should be pursued in this population because of the high rate of infection.

Intra-abdominal abscesses in children.

Forty-one intra-abdominal abscesses in 30 Nigerian children seen over a 2-year period at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital were studied prospectively to determine their location, aetiology, microbiology and clinical course. Thirty-four abscesses (83%) were intraperitoneal with the subphrenic spaces and pelvis being the commonly involved intraperitoneal sites. Six abscesses (15%) were retroperitoneal while there was only one visceral abscess (2%). Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract occurring in 20 patients (67%) were responsible for the majority of intraperitoneal abscesses, while suppurating external iliac adenitis was the major cause of retroperitoneal abscesses. There were 62 microbiological isolates, with 52% being anaerobic bacteria and 47% aerobic bacteria. A fungus, Candida, was isolated once (2%). Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were the commonest aerobic bacteria, while Bacteroides and anaerobic streptococci were the commonest anaerobes. Sixteen patients (53%) had a mixed flora of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, while in seven patients each (23%) only aerobic or anaerobic bacteria were isolated. The mortality rate in this series was 23%. Association of an intra-abdominal abscess with remote organ failure, postoperative anastomotic leakage, non-localization of the abscess within the peritoneal cavity and gastrointestinal perforation due to typhoid enteritis was found to portend poor prognosis.

Prognostic factors in neonatal tetanus.

OBJECTIVE: Neonatal tetanus (NNT) is the leading cause of neonatal deaths in developing countries. The objective of this study was to determine prognostic indicators in NNT. METHODS: We reviewed the clinical records of all neonates (n = 174) admitted to Ife State Hospital with the diagnosis of NNT from 1991 through 1995. RESULTS: Delivery had occurred at home in 73.3% of cases. Only 37/164 of the mothers had had adequate immunization with tetanus toxoid. The umbilical cord appeared to be the portal of entry in 58.6% of cases. Mean age of infants at presentation was 7.2 days. Mortality was 57.5%; non-survivors succumbed after mean stay in the hospital of 5.0 days. Mortality was significantly associated with an incubation period of 6 days or less (P = 0.0026), infant's weight of less than 2.5 kg (P = 0.0113), lack of antenatal care in a health facility (P = 0.0279), birth at home (P = 0.0455), but not with lack of adequate maternal immunization (P = 0.2081; not significant). Multivariable analysis showed that a short (< or = 6 d) incubation period was the strongest predictor of mortality (OR = 3.11, P = 0.0030) while low infant weight (< 2.5 kg) was also a significant predictor (OR = 2.46, P = 0.0408). CONCLUSIONS: Hygienic deliveries and adequate cord care are very important for the prevention of neonatal tetanus deaths, and universal prenatal care, including education programmes on appropriate perinatal and cord care, can significantly reduce NNT incidence and mortality in developing countries.

Immunoprotective factors in breast milk and sera of mother-infant pairs.

We analysed breast milk and serum samples from 33 healthy Nigerian mother-infant pairs for concentrations of IgG, IgM, IgA, C3, C4 and lysozyme. We found that the mean IgG and IgM concentrations in maternal sera were three to four times higher than the levels in infant sera, and five to ten times higher than in breast milk. The IgA and lysozyme concentrations in breast milk were, however, slightly higher than the levels in infant sera, suggesting an active localized synthesis of these factors in the mammary gland. While 54.5% of the milk samples lacked measurable concentrations of IgM by radial immunodiffusion, IgA was consistently present in all the milk samples. The mean C3 concentration in maternal sera was 164 mg/100 ml, compared to 145 mg/100 ml and 11.5 mg/100 ml in infant sera and breast milk respectively. The C4 concentration was also considerably lower in breast milk than in maternal and infant sera.