Phyloepidemiological approaches have provided specific insight into understanding the emergence and evolution of infection. Knowledge on the outbreak and spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Nigeria would assist in provision of preventive measures to reduce transmission among populations at risk. This study aimed to investigate the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 in Nigeria. A total of 39 complete genomes of SARS-CoV-2 were retrieved from the GISAID EpiFlu™ database on 29 March 2020 to investigate its evolution in Nigeria. Sequences were selected based on the travel history of the individual and the collection date. Other sequences were not selected because they were short, contained artefacts, were not from an original source or had insufficient information. Evolutionary history was inferred using the maximum likelihood method based on the general time reversible model. A phylogenetic tree was constructed to determine the common ancestor of each strain. The phylogenetic analysis showed that the strain in Nigeria clustered in a monophyletic clade with a Wuhan sublineage. Nucleotide alignment also showed a 100% similarity indicating a common origin of evolution. Comparative analysis showed 27 972 (93.6%) identical sites and 97.6% pairwise identity with the consensus. The study evidently showed the entire outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Nigeria stemmed from a single introduction sharing consensus similarity with the reference SARS-CoV-2 human genome from Wuhan. Preventive measures that can limit the spread of the infection among populations at risk should be implemented.

Background: Trans-placental transmission of human papillomavirus infection during pregnancy and burden of cervical cancer is increasing in Nigeria. However, studies on the prevalence of HPV among pregnant women are limited in Ogbomoso. Materials and Methods: A total of 93 pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic of Bowen University Teaching hospital in the age range 20–45 years consented for the study. All sera were tested for the presence of IgM antibodies against HPV using a third generation Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay. Chi-square test was used to assess the association between the socio-demographic variables and HPV status. Statistical significance was set at P ≤ 0.05. Results: The overall seroprevalence of HPV was 5.38% (5/93). The mean age of the study participants was 30.62 ± 5.03 years. The highest prevalence was recorded among the age group 26–35 (6.3%; 4/64) years while the least was recorded among the age group 20–25 (6.7%; 1/15) years. None of the socio-demographic characteristics and potential risk factor considered had statistically significant association with HPV infection (P ˃ 0.05). Conclusion: Awareness and screening of pregnant women should be strengthened among health stakeholders for proper management.

Infection caused by Human parvovirus B19 (HPVB19) during pregnancy has been associated with adverse effects on fetus such as intrauterine fetal death but there is dearth information about the seroprevalence and risk factors among pregnant women. This study was carried out to determine the incidence of specific IgM antibodies to HPVB19 among pregnant women attending Bowen University Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso, Oyo State. A total of 185 participants, in the age range 18–49 years, who consented voluntarily after thorough explanation of the purpose of the study were recruited for the study. Specific IgM antibodies were detected using commercially available third-generation ELISA kits. Data on socio-demographic characteristics and potential risk factors were collected using structured questionnaires. Chi-square (χ²) test was utilized to assess the association between the socio-demographic variables and HPVB19 status (P ˂ 0.05). Logistic regression was done to determine the strength of association between the potential risk factors and HPVB19 status (P ˂ 0.05). The overall incidence of IgM antibody recorded was 2.70% (5/185). Pregnant women in the age group 36–45 (7.7%) years had the highest record. None of the socio-demographic characteristics and risk factor considered were significantly associated with acquiring HPVB19. However, a one-fold risk was observed among those who had previous history of blood transfusion (95% CI = 0.949–0.997, OR = 1.0) The findings in this study confirmed the presence of antibodies to HPVB19 among pregnant women in Ogbomoso. Public awareness, enlightenment, and screening for the virus should be encouraged to prevent fetal complications during pregnancy.

Hepatitis C virus is one of the emerging infectious diseases that can be transmitted through blood-to-blood contact. This study was carried out to determine the prevalence of anti-HCV antibodies among potential blood donors and pregnant women attending Bowen University Teaching Hospital (BUTH), Ogbomoso, Oyo State. This hospital-based study was conducted from December 2014 to September 2015. The study group (N = 279) included potential blood donors and pregnant women. Data on socio-demographic characteristics and potential risk factors were collected using a structured questionnaire. The presence of anti-HCV antibodies in serum samples of the studied subjects were detected using third-generation Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) (WKEA Med Supplies Corp, China). Chisquare test was utilized to assess the association between the socio-demographic variables and HCV status. Logistic regression was done to determine the strength of association between risk factors and HCV status. Statistical significance was set at P ˂ 0.05. Overall seroprevalence of hepatitis C virus infection was found to be 1.79% consisting 0.36% of pregnant women and 1.43% of blood donors. None of the socio-demographic characteristics and potential risk factors among the study groups were significantly associated with hepatitis C virus infection. This study found a seroprevalence of anti-HCV antibody to be 1.79%, thus, screening of pregnant women and blood donors for HCV infections with the use of ELISA is recommended because of its important role in detecting the presence of anti-HCV antibody with utmost specificity and sensitivity.

The respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common cause of respiratory tract infection. The illness typically begins with a low-grade fever, runny nose, cough and sometimes wheezing. Usage of immunostimulators to prevent infections such as RSV is of great importance. Immunostimulators such Trino-IB are drugs which stimulate immune system by inducing activation or increasing activity of any of its components. Thirty specific pathogen-free Wister rats were put into three groups (10 each). Group A was treated with Trino-IB before and after inoculation with RSV, Group B was inoculated with only RSV and Group C (control) was not given any treatment. Clinical signs, anal temperature were observed daily and rats were sacrificed at day 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 for histological analysis. Rats in Group B showed more and severe clinical signs of RSV infection alongside histopathological changes of the lungs than the rats in Group A. The results of from the study showed that Trino-IB has effect on the immune system of the rats by suppressing the effect of RSV. The effect of Trino-IB on the infected rat explains the ability of the drug to act as an immune booster as well as to suppress the clinical effect of the virus.