Infectious bursal disease (IBD) is a disease caused by infectious bursa virus (IBDV). The disease is highly affecting young chickens, representing a serious threat to the poultry industry worldwide. This research aims to determine the pattern of mutation and the trend of evolutionary relationship among different variants of infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV). A total of 26 sequences of VP2 gene of different IBDV variants, was retrieved from the National Centre of Biotechnology Information (NCBI BLAST) Gen Bank. Multiple sequence alignment was carried out with AF248612.1 as reference sequence. The nucleotide sequences were also translated to amino acids and checked the mutation based on the amino acids’ substitutions. From the result, mutation was observed at position S-254-G, E-270-A and S-335-V. However, phylogenetic study categorized the IBDV variants into different geographical continents which comprises Malaysia, China, Finland, Iran, Brazil, Korean, Algeria, Japan, Israel, Russia Germany, and UK Isolates. Understanding the mutation particularly in the VP2 gene may provide insight on the pattern of amino acid substitution which may ease the selection of variant for best vaccine candidate.

The outbreak of the coronavirus disease in 2019 (COVID-19) was caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The disease has been rapidly spread around the globe affecting more than 180 countries. During the COVID-19 pandemic, SARS-CoV-2 has accumulated mutations throughout viral genes encoding the spike (S) glycoprotein D614G mutation became the predominant globally. The potential threats are that SARS-CoV-2 is gradually mutating during incessant transmission among humans. Although most mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 genome are expected to be either deleterious and swiftly purged or relatively neutral, a small proportion will affect functional properties and may alter infectivity, disease severity, or interactions with host immunity. Therefore, this research work is aimed to determine the different mutational changes and phylogenetic relationship among different SARS-CoV-2 variants of the covid-19 virus using a relevant bioinformatics software BioEdit and MEGA 6.0 (Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis version 6.0). The result shows mutation in the positions 491, 621, and 688 in the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Such mutations in the S-protein are very critical and might be an associated risk factor of virus transmission. The phylogenetic study has classified the SARS-CoV-2 variants into different countries. This information might provide insight on the impacts on antigenicity and contextualizing them in the S protein structure and observed mutation frequencies in global sequences datasets.

Antinutritional factors are secondary metabolites synthesized in plants, which tend to antagonize nutrition either by causing toxicity or secondary nutritional deficiency of some important nutrients necessary for animal nutrition. Effect of heating regimes on the antinutritional contents of two varieties of rice and maize was determined; boiled for 30, 60, 90 and 120 minutes. The samples were sun-dried and levels of the antinutrients were determined using reported procedures. Rice (foreign): phytate – 8.92 ± 1.24, Oxalate – 3.15 ± 0.45, Tannins – 4.44 ± 0.89, For rice (Local): Phytate – 6.03 ± 1.07, Oxalate – 2.05 ± 0.26, Tannins – 2.49 ± 0.36, Maize (White): Phytate – 7.23 ± 0.26, Oxalate – 6.45 ± 1.13, Tannins – 4.66 ± 0.17 and Maize (Red): Phytate – 6.90 ± 0.71, Oxalate – 4.05 ± 0.45 and Tannins–8.58±0.13. Heating for 120 minutes decreases the levels of antinutrients to; Rice (Foreign): Phyate – 5.59. ± 0.16, Oxalate – 1.36 ± 0.19, Tannins – 1.57 ± 0.13, Rice (Local): Phytate – 0.29 ± 0.07, Oxalate – 0.33 ± 0.09, Tannins – 0.52 ± 0.31, Maize (White): Phyate – 3.00 ± 0.08, Oxalate – 1.37 ± 0.31, Tannins – 1.92 ± 0.09 and Maize (red): Phytate – 3.01 ± 0.08, Oxalate – 1.27 ± 0.60 and Tannins 3.19 ± 0.23. The data were analyzed by analysis of variance using SPSS 20. For the analysis, there was significant difference (P˂0.05) between rice and maize cereals, but no significant difference (P˂0.05) between both the cultivars of rice and maize. Similarly, there was significant difference (P˂0.05) in the effect of heating on the two cereals, but no significant difference (P˂0.05) in the effect of heat between the red and white maize as well as local and foreign rice. The results showed that decrease in the levels of antinutritional contents is proportional to the heating time in rice and maize samples.

AIDS is still an incurable disease and is very costly to control. Since the first case of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in Nigeria was reported in 1986, the human immune deficiency virus (HIV) infection has attained epidemic proportion. In an attempt to control this rapid spread, certain preventive measures have been developed. In spite of these and the campaigns to control it, the gap between the knowledge and attitudes of youths towards HIV/AIDS needs to be bridged. A Total of 1,500 One thousand five hundred youth between the age of 18- 50 from different educational levels of the three senatorial district of Jigawa state were approached. A structured questionnaire was issued to the respondents of two local Governments from each senatorial district. A clustered random sampling technique was employed for data collection. Our result showed that majority of youth within the age of 27- above have vast knowledge about HIV/AIDS and mostly lives in the urban areas. High percentage of youth 73% and 71% agree to live and share materials with people living with HIV/AIDS, even though misconception exist among rural dwellers about contracting the disease through eating, hugging and sharing of material. In conclusion, this study shows that although the awareness of HIV and its major routes of transmission are high in Jigawa State, there are gaps in the knowledge and attitudes of Youth of the state towards consequences of HIV and modes of transmission.

This research was carried out to determine the prevalence state of Hepatitis B infection and predisposing factors among blood donors in Dutse and Gumel General Hospitals, Jigawa State, Nigeria. Five hundred and forty-six (546) blood samples were aseptically collected from consenting donors at two hospitals. Two hundred and seventy-three (273) samples were screened from each General Hospital for Hepatitis B Surface Antigen (HBsAg) using third generation enzyme immunoassay HBsAg kits. Out of 273 samples from Dutse General Hospital, 260 were males, and 13 were females while in Gumel General Hospital, 264 were males, and 9 were females. The prevalence rates in the two General Hospitals were 36 and 27 respectively. The peak age specific HBsAg sero-positivity occurred in the aged range of 31-40yrs and 21-30yrs for Dutse and Gumel General Hospitals respectively. Commercial donors constitute highest percentage of blood donors in the two Hospitals; 25% and 20% respectively. The finding indicates that there is no significant difference between gender and the occurrence of the infection among blood donors attending two General Hospitals p > 0.05. The result confirmed that there is no significant difference between the two hospitals based on the Hepatitis B infection at p > 0.05. Among the predisposing factors analysed statistically, the result shows that there is significant difference p 0.05 between the Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) vaccination status and the occurrence of HBsAg among donors in both hospitals, so it is important to make thorough investigation among blood donors before transfusion of blood, because transfusion of blood saves life, but recipients are at high risk of contracting Hepatitis B virus infections through transfusion of infected blood and blood products. Mass screening, immunization against the virus, and public health education to enlighten the populace about infection and the routes of transmission are recommended.

Bioremediation is a technology that utilizes the metabolic potential of microorganisms to clean up contaminated environments. The purpose of this review is to assess the current state of. Phytoremediation as an innovative technology and to discuss its usefulness and potential in the remediation of various impacted sites. Since the dawn of industrial revolution and Agricultural activities mankind has been introducing numerous hazardous compound in the environment at an exponential rate. This hazardous pollutant consists of a variety of organic compound, fertilizer, and heavy metals, which pose serious risk to human health. Heavy metals are primarily more concerned because they cannot be destroyed by degradation frequently, the remediation of contaminated soils, ground water, and surface water is not common due to inability to decompose as a result of microbial activities. Therefore, there is need for the prevention and control of this pollution from contaminated areas in Jigawa state. Phytoremediation is useful in these circumstances because natural plants or transgenic plants are able to bioaccumulate this contaminant in the above ground parts which are then harvested for removal. Phytoremediation is a green technology, and when properly implemented it could minimizes disturbance of the soil and surrounding environment and reduce the spread of contamination via air and waterborne. Phytoremediation does not require expensive equipment. However, the greatest advantage of phytoremediation is its low cost and environmentally friendly compared to conventional clean up technologies. Despite all the important of phytoremediation in the preventing and control of pollutant, their use in developing countries like Nigeria is limited. Therefore, this review aimed at providing an innovative economical and environmentallyfriendly approach to removing contaminant from wastes sites.