Célestin Pongombo Shongo

In order to evaluate the efficacy of the root bark powder of Oldfieldia dactylophylla (Welw. ex Oliv.) J. Lonard (a Picrodendraceae), 32 locally breed grazing goats naturally infested with various gastrointestinal helminths were randomly assigned to four groups of eight animals: one untreated control, one positive control group treated with a reference anthelmintic (albendazole, 5 mg/kg), and two groups treated per os with O. dactylophylla root bark powder (100 and 200 mg/kg body weight, respectively). Four doses of these respective treatments were administered monthly. To evaluate parasitological, blood and zootechnical parameters, samples were taken on day 0, just before administration of the first treatment and on 14, 31, 45, 62, 76, 92 and day 126. O. dactylophylla was effective on day 14 after treatment with 69% strongle egg fecal excretion (both doses) versus 90% albendazole. However, efficacy was stabilized at 85, 86 and 89% for O. dactylophylla (100 and 200 mg/kg) and albendazole, respectively. These data support the ethnoveterinary use of this plant in the control of digestive parasitism in goat breeding. However, phytochemical studies support that the plant should make contributions to human studies in the future.

Melioidosis is an often fatal infectious disease with a protean clinical spectrum, caused by the environmental bacterial pathogen Burkholderia pseudomallei. Although the disease has been reported from some African countries in the past, the present epidemiology of melioidosis in Africa is almost entirely unknown. Therefore, the common view that melioidosis is rare in Africa is not evidence-based. A recent study concludes that large parts of Africa are environmentally suitable for B. pseudomallei. Twenty-four African countries and three countries in the Middle East were predicted to be endemic, but no cases of melioidosis have been reported yet. In this study, we summarize the present fragmentary knowledge on human and animal melioidosis and environmental B. pseudomallei in Africa and the Middle East. We propose that systematic serological studies in man and animals together with environmental investigations on potential B. pseudomallei habitats are needed to identify risk areas for melioidosis. This information can subsequently be used to target raising clinical awareness and the implementation of simple laboratory algorithms for the isolation of B. pseudomallei from clinical specimens. B. pseudomallei was most likely transferred from Asia to the Americas via Africa, which is shown by phylogenetic analyses. More data on the virulence and genomic characteristics of African B. pseudomallei isolates will contribute to a better understanding of the global evolution of the pathogen and will also help to assess potential differences in disease prevalence and outcome.