Fasciola, Fascioloides, and Dicrocoelium cause liver fluke diseases in ruminants and are of zoonotic and economic importance. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the prevalence of liver fluke egg infection in White Fulani Cattle slaughtered in Wukari Cattle market abattoir in Wukari, Taraba State. A total of 262 gallbladders were collected and their contents were analyzed for the presence of eggs of liver flukes using sedimentation technique. Descriptive analysis was done using SPSS version 20 for window and Pearson’s Chi-Square (χ²) was used to evaluate the association between variables. Fasciola and Dicrocoelium eggs were encountered. Only 74 (28.2%) samples were positive for Fasciola egg and 211 (80.5%) for Dicrocoelium. The prevalence of liver fluke infection revealed 25% and 28.6% Fasciola eggs for male and female animals, respectively, while lancet fluke had 83.3% for male and 80.3% for female. Fasciola eggs were recovered in 20.8% of animals aged less 3 years (<3yrs) and 29.9% was recorded in animals 3 years and above (≥ 3yrs) while 81.3% for animals ≥ 3yrs and 77.1% for animals <3yrs were recorded for Dicrocoelium eggs. The body condition score-based prevalence for Fasciola yielded 38.1%, 26.8%, and 14% for poor, average, and good, respectively, while Dicrocoelium yielded 85.7%, 79.3%, and 85.7%. There was a significant difference between the body condition scores for fasciolosis. Only 59% harboured single infection with eggs of Dicrocoelium (P< 0.05) while 6.9% harboured Fasciola eggs. Mixed infection associating Fasciola and Dicrocoelium was observed in 21.4% of the sample cattle. Liver fluke infections: fasciolosis and dicrocoeliosis occur among White Fulani cattle in Wukari and these infections are associated with the body condition score of the animals. This greatly affects the cattle production. There is a need to institute adequate control programmes complemented with good well-planned management practices in any production system involving cattle in Wukari.

Many researchers worldwide have focused on the health impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic without paying much emphasis to the environmental impacts associated with the pandemic. Evidence suggests that prior to the pandemic there was an alarming increase in environmental pollution due to rising industrialization, in particular in urban areas. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, satellite data over Asia and Europe showed a substantial decrease in air pollution, in particular nitrogen dioxide. However, the increase in industrial and household wastes may pose a significant challenge to environmental management. The improper management of these wastes poses an unforeseen “knock-on” effect on human health and the environment. It is imperative to establish an effective and safe procedure, for handling and disposing of the consequential wastes accumulating during the pandemic. The review aims to highlight both the beneficial and detrimental effects of COVID-19 pandemic on the natural environment and to discuss the possible strategies to improve the quality of the global environment during the period of the pandemic and beyond.

West Nile virus (WNV) is an emerging and re-emerging zoonotic flavivirus first identified in and endemic to Africa. The virus is transmitted between birds by biting mosquitoes, with equids and humans being incidental hosts. The majority of infected incidental hosts display no or only mild clinical signs, but a fraction develop encephalitis. The aim of this scoping review was to identify and evaluate primary research on the presence of antibodies to WNV among African equids. Three bibliographic databases and the grey literature were searched. Of 283 articles identified, only 16 satisfied all the inclusion criteria. Data were collated on study design and outcomes. The overall seroprevalence reported ranged from 17.4 to 90.3%, with 1998 (35%) of the 5746 horses, donkeys and mules having screened positive for WNV antibodies. Several articles determined that seroprevalence increased significantly with age. Due to co-circulation of other flaviviruses in Africa, in the majority of studies that screened samples by ELISA, positive results were confirmed using a more specific neutralization test. However, only eight studies tested against other flaviviruses, including Potiskum, Uganda S, Wesselsbron and yellow fever virus in one, Japanese encephalitis and Usutu virus (USUV) in one, tick-borne encephalitis and USUV in one and USUV only in three. Equids are regarded as useful sentinel animals for WNV, but variation in study design poses challenges when trying to determine risk factors for, and trends in, WNV seroprevalence.

A cross-sectional study was conducted in Wukari, Taraba state, Nigeria, to determine the prevalence ofBrucellaantibodies and the risk factors associated with brucellosis in indigenous breeds of goats. A total of 386 goats were sampled from three political wards: Puje, Avyi, and Hospital: harvested sera samples were subjected to Rose Bengal Plate Test (RBPT). GraphPad Prism version 7.03 for Windows (GraphPad Software, La Jolla California, USA) was used to analyse the association between seroprevalence of brucellosis and age, sex, breed, location, and management system by using Chi square and Fisher’s exact test as appropriate. Brucellosis was detected in all three wards: Puje; 15%, Avyi; 6.6%, and Hospital; 7.6%. A prevalence rate of 2.8%, 8%, 18.7%, and 1% was recorded for <20-month, 22-35-month, 36-45-month, and ≥46-55-month age categories, respectively (P < 0.05). Only 9.5% was observed for male animals while 9.8% was observed for female animals with no statistical difference between the males and females. Breed-specific seroprevalence yielded 7.4%, 5.4% 12%, 12.8%, and 11.6%, for Cross, West Africa Dwarf, Red Sokoto, Kano Brown, and Sahel breeds of goat, respectively. There is an evidence of brucellosis (9.6%) in Wukari L.G.A, Taraba State, and age is a risk factor for the disease in the study area. There is a need to enlighten the public on the zoonotic potentials and economic impacts of brucellosis.