The Black mamba, D. polylepis, is one of the many venomous snakes found in Kenya, and known to account for some snakebite incidents. The Kenyan Ministry of Health data reveals annual 15,000 snakebites occurrences. Also, 1 in 15 people in Kenya gets bitten by a snake, and tragically, 1 in 147 of these individuals die of snakebite yearly. Traditionally, antivenoms for treatment are produced from horse or sheep but have complicated and expensive production issues. Alternative production approaches, such as using IgY antibodies derived from chicken egg yolks, may overcome disadvantages with traditional antivenom manufacturing techniques. In this current study, D. polylepis specific IgY polyclonal antibodies were purified from the egg yolks of chickens immunized with D. polylepis venom. These antibodies were subsequently assessed for their in-vivo neutralizing capacity vis-à-vis commercial antivenoms, PANAF-Premium and VINS. The IgY antibodies were purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation and affinity-chromatography, with quality and specificity determined by SDS-PAGE and ELISA. The LD50 of D. polylepis was found to be 0.54 mg/kg in chicks, and 0.34 mg/kg in mice, respectively. Pool of extracted IgY yielded 2.8 mg/mL concentration. Purified IgY under non-reducing and reducing conditions on SDS-PAGE exhibited a single-protein band of about 183 kDa and two bands (67 kDa and 25 kDa), respectively. The minimum-edematogenic dose was 0.05 μg. Anti-D. polylepis IgY antibodies and two antivenoms demonstrated the capacity to neutralize the toxic activities of D. polylepis venom. This study confirms a successful IgY generation against Black mamba venom for the first time, and observed toxic effects of the venom as well as neutralizing capacity of antivenoms.

Background Reverse Transcriptase (RT) enzymes have been extensively utilized, especially in Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Many viruses that cause infections worldwide contain ribonucleic acid (RNA), and for their molecular detection, it is essential to convert RNA to DNA using RT. This study aimed to create and characterize a thermostable Moloney Murine Reverse Transcriptase (MMLV-RT) enzyme by using consensus sequences from the latest MMLV-RT sequence database. Methodology The six latest sequences encoding MMLV-RT were retrieved from the NCBI website, and the consensus sequence was determined and cloned into the pET28a (+) vector. The vector was overexpressed in an E. coli expression system. The enzyme obtained was purified using Talon accept resin. The purified enzyme was analyzed by SDS-PAGE and Western Blotting. The enzyme performance was evaluated by performing PCR on 89 SARS-CoV 2 positive samples and 40 negative samples both in a concentrated state and at a dilution factor of x10−1. The performance was compared with that of the commercial enzyme, a commercial RT enzyme kit, and Superscript (Invitrogen). Results The enzyme was successfully expressed in E. coli. The concentration of MMLV-RT used was 0.313 mg/mL. The concentrated enzyme detected 98.9% of SARS-CoV-2 RNA, whereas the diluted RT enzyme detected 92.1% of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. In contrast, the diagnostic specificity was 98% for concentrated RT and 95% for diluted RT. This showed that the recombinant in-house MMLV-RT enzyme prototype could be used for the PCR amplification of viral RNA. (Figure 3) Conclusion We successfully produced a recombinant MMLV-RT enzyme whose performance was comparable to that of standard commercial reverse transcriptase (P <0.0001).

The onset of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in late 2019 presented a severe worldwide health crisis with widespread morbidity and mortality. Various vaccine platforms have been rapidly developed and approved for broad use in a swift and urgent response to prevent the transmission of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. However, these vaccines differ significantly in terms of safety. Heterologous prime-boost vaccination enhances vaccine safety compared to homologous vaccination, although it could lead to a higher cumulative number of transient adverse events reported at each visit. Therefore, additional strategies are necessary to improve SARS- CoV-2 vaccine safety. Anecdotal options suggest that vaccine co-administration can significantly reduce these adverse effects and consequently, avert the need for frequent booster doses. This study reports the immunization outcomes against the SARS-CoV-2 virus by assessing the safety profiles of different SARS-CoV-2 vaccines co-administered in BALB/c mice. Vaccine combinations comprising mRNA/adenovirus26-vector, mRNA/inactivated, adenovirus26-vector/inactivated, and mRNA/adenovirus26-vector/inactivated vaccines were prepared in optimized doses, and their activities upon immunization evaluated in comparison with individual mRNA, adenovirus26-vectored and inactivated vaccines. Twenty-eight days post-immunization, safety profiles of the various treatments were evaluated through hematological and biochemical examination. Importantly, the co-administration regimens proved safe and were well-tolerated in mice, as evidenced by the normal hematological and biochemical values.

Background In the wake of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the World Health Organization recommended the use of alcohol-based hand rubs (ABHRs) to curb transmission, leading to increased production and use. This has posed a danger of production and use of poor-quality ABHRs. Methods This study assessed and compared the quality of ABHRs in the Kenyan market that were produced before and after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Quality testing was carried out against European EN 1500:2013 and Kenyan EAS 789:2013 Standards and 20 samples analyzed for alcohol content by GC-FID. Results The study found that 27.8% of the peri-COVID-19 pandemic sanitizers had less than 90% bactericidal reduction activity as compared to 12.5% manufactured pre-COVID-19 pandemic. Only 25% peri-COVID-19 pandemic ABHRs met the EAS 789:2013 acceptable limit of over 60% alcohol content. Product adulteration with methanol was found in 20 % of the samples with only 5% complying with FDA approval limit of <0.063% v/v methanol. Study found no correlation between the total alcohol content and the efficacy of ABHRs. Conclusions The study found that more substandard products were produced during the pandemic. This raises a concern about possible emergence of alcohol resistant strains of microorganisms. The study therefore recommends an adequate quality monitoring system to curb against substandard products.

Various vaccine platforms have been approved for broad use to prevent the transmission of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. However, these vaccines exhibit distinct differences in immunogenicity and efficacy, which decline after vaccination and are further exacerbated by the emergence of virus variants and mutants. This study reports the immunization outcomes against the SARS-CoV-2 virus by assessing the immune responses and safety of different SARS-CoV-2 vaccines co-administered in BALB/c mice. Vaccine combinations comprising mRNA/adenovirus26-vector, mRNA/inactivated, adenovirus26-vector/inactivated, and mRNA/adenovirus26-vector/inactivated vaccines were prepared in optimized doses, and their activities upon immunization evaluated in comparison with individual mRNA, adenovirus26-vectored, and inactivated vaccines. Fourteen- and 28-days post-immunization, we measured spike-specific IgG response using Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), cytokine expression profiles through Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and evaluated safety through histopathological examination. The mRNA/Vector/Inactivated group exhibited slightly higher anti-spike IgG levels, albeit not statistically significant (p > 0.132). Importantly, this regimen induced elevated IL-6 and IFN-γ mRNA expression levels (p < 0.0001) compared to immunization with individual vaccines. In summary, this study demonstrated that co-administering the mRNA/adenovirus26 vector/inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccines improved spike-specific IgG response, triggered significantly enhanced IL-6 and IFN-γ mRNA expression levels, and proved safe in mice.

Background Proof of effects of Cytosine Phosphoguanine Oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG ODNs), adjuvanted Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) vaccine on immune response is limited. This study aimed to assess the effect of five CpG ODNs in HBV Vaccine-immunized BALB/c mice and to identify the most effective CpG ODN adjuvant. Methods This laboratory-based experimental study was conducted using a total of 36 female BALB/c mice, which were clustered into 12 groups and immunized intramuscularly. Group 1 was immunized with CpG ODN 18281-1 alone, group 2 with vaccine plus CpG ODN 18281-1, group 3 with CpG ODN 18281-2 alone, group 4 with CpG ODN 18281-2 plus vaccine, group 5 CpG ODN 18289 alone, group 6 with CpG ODN 18289 plus vaccine, group 7 CpG ODN 1826 S alone, group 8 with CpG ODN 1826 S plus vaccine, group 9 CpG ODN 2395 alone, group 10 with CpG ODN 2395 plus vaccine, group 11 with vaccine alone and group 12 with Phosphate Buffer Saline (PBS). All the groups were observed for 14 and 28 days after immunization. Results In the vaccinated groups, those receiving supplementation with CpG 2395 exhibited a significant 4.4-fold elevation, resulting in a signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) value of 14.1 compared to the vaccine group only (S/N = 3.22) by day 28 (p-value < 0.0001). For mice immunized with the vaccine plus CpG ODNs, cytokine profiling using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction revealed increased IL-6 expression levels and decreased TNF-α levels compared to the untreated group, normalized with the housekeeping gene HPRT 1. However, the expression of IL-6 and TNF-α was not statistically significant between the treated groups (p-value ≥ 0.2). Parameters for toxicity were within the normal range in all treatment groups. Conclusion Based on these results the co-administration of the HBV vaccine with CpG ODN 2395 induces high immune responses in comparison to HBV vaccine alone.

Background: In the wake of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the World Health Organization recommended the use of alcohol-based hand rubs (ABHRs) to curb transmission, leading to increased production and use. This has posed a danger of production and use of poor-quality ABHRs. Methods: This study assessed and compared the quality of ABHRs in the Kenyan market that were produced before and after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Quality testing was carried out against European EN 1500:2013 and Kenyan EAS 789:2013 Standards. Results: The study found that 27.8% of the peri-pandemic sanitizers had less than 90% bactericidal reduction activity as compared to 12.5% manufactured pre-pandemic. Only 25% peri-pandemic ABHRs met the EAS 789:2013 acceptable limit of over 60% alcohol content. Product adulteration with methanol was found in 20 % of the samples with only 5% complying with FDA approval limit of <0.063% v/v methanol. Study found no correlation between the total alcohol content and the efficacy of ABHRs. Conclusions: The study found that more substandard products were produced during the pandemic. This raises a concern about possible emergence of alcohol resistant strains of microorganisms. The study therefore recommends an adequate quality monitoring system to curb against substandard products.

Development of an effective tool wear monitor requires maximum utilization of information from associated data, especially in machine learning based modeling. However, vastly varied annotated training data is required, which is not only expensive but impractical to obtain. In the present work, a contiguous approach of artificial data generation followed up by self‐supervised pre‐training before supervised model fine tuning and final stacked generalized ensembling, has been adopted to develop an effective tool wear monitor in a low data regime. Cross‐validated results of proposed methodology adoption in tool wear prediction on an experimental data set of few labeled samples attained an averaged MAE of 0.035, RMSE of 0.045 and MAPE of on the best case ensemble, which was comparatively superior to a purely supervised‐only trained deep model on the same data set, with an overall accuracy enhancement of over . The proposed approach provides an effective experimental data augmentation technique while simultaneously minimizing aleatoric uncertainty and allowing for utilization of information from often ignored static cutting parameters.

Life-threatening medical issues can result from snakebite, and hence this is a public health concern. In many tropical and subtropical nations such as Kenya, where a wide variety of poisonous snakes are prevalent, diagnosis of snakebite in health facilities is imperative. Different antivenoms are needed to treat the venom of different snake species. Nonetheless, it might be difficult for medical professionals to identify the exact snake species that envenomated a patient due to the similarities of several snake envenomations’ clinical symptoms. Therefore, the necessity for an assay or technique for identifying venomous species is critical. The current study sought to develop a sensitive ELISA prototype for the detection of D. polylepis venom in Kenya using generated chicken-based IgY polyclonal antibodies. Serum samples containing specific chicken-based IgY antibodies previously raised against D. polylepis venom toxins were used in the assay development. ELISA parameters were optimized, and the developed assay was assessed for applicability. The limit of detection (LoD) of the ELISA for neurotoxic venoms was determined to be 0.01 µg/mL. Successful discrimination between neurotoxic and cytotoxic venoms was achieved by the ensuing inhibition ELISA assay. The developed assay showed the capability of identifying venoms in blood samples (from spiked and venom-challenged blood samples) of BALB/c mice, providing compelling evidence of the strategy’s usefulness. This assay could help physicians diagnose and manage victims of snakebites through the evaluation of clinical samples.

Clearances in joints of a mechanical multibody system can induce impulsive forces, leading to vibrations that compromise the system’s reliability, stability, and lifespan. Through dynamic analysis, designers can investigate the effects of the clearances on the dynamics of the multibody system. A revolute joint with clearance exhibits three motions which are; free-flight, impact and continuous contact motion modes. Therefore, a multibody system with n-number of revolute clearance joints will exhibit 3n motion modes which are a combination of the three motions in each joint. This study investigates experimentally the nine motion modes in a mechanical system with two revolute clearance joints. A slider crank mechanism has been used as the demonstrative example. We observed that the experimental curve exhibits a greater impact compared to the simulation curve. In conclusion, this experimental investigation offers valuable insights into the dynamics of planar mechanical systems with multiple clearance revolute joints. Utilizing a slider-crank mechanism for data acquisition, the study successfully confirmed seven out of nine motion modes previously identified in numerical research. The missing modes are attributed to inherent complexities in real-world systems, such as journal-bearing misalignment.

Evidence of efficacy and toxicity of oral selenium supplementation in vaccine administration against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) in mice models is scarce. In this study, 4 × 109 virus particles (40 µL) dose of Janssen COVID-19 intramuscular injection vaccine was supplemented with a commercial selenium supplement and sodium selenite orally in BALB/c mice (N = 18). Qualitative determination of anti-spike IgG antibody response using indirect Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) showed significant (p ≤ 0.001) increase in anti-spike IgG antibody response for mice groups immunized with vaccine and supplemented selenium. Furthermore, cytokine profiling using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction also showed an increase in IL-6 and IL-10 mRNA levels normalized using hypoxanthine phosphoribosyl transferase 1 (Hprt1) and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (Gadph) housekeeping genes. There was no statistical significance (p < 0.465) among treated and untreated groups for alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), urea, and creatinine parameters. The study presents preliminary findings and suggests that supplementing Janssen COVID-19 vaccines with selenium can generate more robust immune responses.

The effects of cytosine phosphoguanine oligodeoxynucleotides (CPG ODNs) on immune response have been demonstrated for different vaccines; however, such information is limited for the vector-based Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This paper aims to demonstrate the potential effect of CPG ODNs on immunological response against the vector-based COVID-19 vaccine on Balb/c mice using a JNJ-78436735 Ad26.COV2-S recombinant as a model vaccine. A total of 18 BALB/c mice clustered into six groups were used. All groups were observed for 14- and 28-days post immunization. Qualitative determination of IgG was performed using indirect Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and qPCR for cytokine profiling. A significant (p ≤ 0.001) rise in antibody response was observed for groups 3 and 4, who also showed increased expression levels of Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) and Interferon Gamma (IFN-γ). Immunological parameters for toxicity were normal in all treatment groups. We conclude that supplementing vector-based COVID-19 vaccines with CpG ODNs has the potential to boost the body’s immune responses to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection.

Online determination of a cutter's health status is crucial for the attainment of condition‐based automated tool change in computer numerically controlled (CNC) machining. Due to the impracticalities associated with direct condition measurements, data‐based modeling of monitoring signals provides a viable practical route. However, the highly noisy and redundant nature of the associated data impacts negatively on model's accuracy and typically calls for additional initial preprocessing before modeling. Additionally, the long sequential data entails widely varying condition distributions exhibited by different cutters, even from the same batch on similar machining parameters, posing a challenge to model generalization. An end‐to‐end model has thus been developed to work directly on unprocessed data to establish global sensitive features from varying distributions for online tool wear estimation in CNC machining. The model utilizes three main functional blocks. First, a data denoising and feature selection block automatically processes raw multisensor data directly, dispensing with scaling or preprocessing of inputs as conventionally done. Each sensor channel's independence is preserved at initial processing ensuring complementary information from different sensors is utilized while simultaneously minimizing existing redundancies. The weighted denoised data is then processed through a transformer encoder block for determination of global dependencies in the time‐series sequence, regardless of the time‐step position. The learned features are then fed to an upper supervised learning block for association with the monitored wear condition. The developed model works directly on raw noisy data irrespective of scaling differences, saving on preprocessing computational cost. The global associations extracted on long sequences by the transformer‐encoder allow for model generalization to varying wear distributions. The parallel processing structure of all channels ensures complementary information is utilized minimizing unforeseen model bias. The model's performance as evaluated on experimental milling data and further comparison with other reported models on same dataset shows attainment of comparable state‐of‐art results.

Abstract Background N-acetyl transferase (NAT2) affects metabolism and disposition of isoniazid. Polymorphisms of NAT2 may affect pharmacokinetics of isoniazid (INH) by decreasing concentration of active drug in fast acetylators. High concentrations of drug in slow acetylators may lead to hepatotoxicity; this affects clinical outcomes of patients on therapy. Objectives The main objective was to characterize the distribution of selected single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of NAT2 in patients on IPT at the Comprehensive Care Centre (CCC) of Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) and to investigate for a relationship between acetylator status and isoniazid induced hepatotoxicity (as indicated by elevated ALT levels). Methods The study design was a cross sectional study and entailed collection of patient data. The QIAamp ® DNA Mini kit was used for extraction of DNA and purification of Genomic DNA, followed by DNA sequencing. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS version 25(IBM USA). Results The prevalence of the homozygous NAT2 genotype was 19% and that of the heterozygous genotype was 50%. The proportion of the population with slow acetylator alleles was 56% and the proportion of fast acetylator alleles was 44%. Fisher's exact test showed no significant association between ALT levels and NAT2 genotype (P = 0.330). Conclusion The study found no significant association between NAT2 genotypes and ALT levels (P = 0.33)

The management of gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) and coccidiosis of livestock relies on the use of commercial anthelmintic; however, the excessive and frequent usage of these drugs has led to the substantial and dramatic development of anthelmintic and anticoccidial resistance. The present study aimed to evaluate the anthelmintic and anticoccidial efficacy of chitosan nanoencapsulated bromelain (CNB) against a wide spectrum of GIN and coccidia in goats. Additionally, the study assessed the safety of CNB in the goats. Bromelain was extracted from the pineapple peels and then encapsulated using chitosan. A total of 20 healthy male goats naturally infected with GIN and coccidia were used. The goats were separated into four treatment groups, with five goats per each. The CNB was orally administered at dosages of 270 and 90 mg/Kg, once daily for 60 days. Fecal egg counts (FEC), fecal oocyst counts (FOC), packed cell volume (PCV), aspartate aminotransferases (AST), alanine aminotransferases (ALT), urea, and creatinine were determined weekly. The goats were monitored for clinical signs daily, and their body weight was recorded weekly. The findings revealed that FEC reduction rates in the group that received 270 mg/Kg CNB and the group that received Albendazole were 73.41% and 79.54% at day 7 post-treatment. Also, the reduction of FOC in the group receiving 270 mg/Kg CNB at day 7 (84.12%) did not show a significant difference with Diclazuril (82.12%). The FEC and FOC were zero (reduction of FEC and FOC was 100%) at 28 days of treatment in goats treated with 270 mg/Kg CNB. During the monitoring period, no mortalities and no clinical signs were observed in the treated goats. The PCV, AST, ALT, creatinine, and urea levels for the goats in all groups were within normal limits. No pathological lesions were observed in the goat’s organs. In conclusion, the results demonstrated that repeated (60 days) dosages of 270 mg/Kg had anthelmintic and anticoccidial effects and were safe for goats. The study recommends further investigation in a field setting involving more animals. This would allow the development of a novel product for managing helminthiasis and coccidiosis in ruminants.

Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) infections affect about 400 million people globally and cause about 1.4 million deaths annually.The virus displays high levels of genetic variations/mutations, some of which are immune escape mutants.The prevalence of HBV infection in Kenya is high at about 8%.This study aimed at identifying and characterizing HBV immune escape mutants in Kenya.From 547 HBV sequences available in Kenya in NCBI, and HBVdb databases in July 2021, 120 full sequences were retrieved.The S gene sequences at position 1-225, which included the "a" determinant region of the gene were analyzed using various bioinformatics tools such as Bioedit software, and Emboss Cons.The clinical significance was flagged from the search of peer-reviewed journals.Forty-six HBV-positive blood donor samples were obtained from the Kenya National Blood Transfusion Services without personal identifiers, DNA extracted, and sequenced targeting positions 1 to 520 of S genes.Mutations were similarly identified from seventeen sequences after cleaning and analysis.Out of 120 sequences that were extracted from databases and analyzed, 79 different mutations were identified.Fifteen of them were of clinical importance with an occurrence frequency of at least 5% were obtained.The majority (64.6%, n = 51), with S207N and A194V being most dominant, could result in immune escape and reduced HBsAg detection signals while 24.1% (n = 19) could result in immune escape/reduced HBsAg detection signals and high probability of hepatocellular carcinoma.Most likely to occur on the amino acids Alanine, Lysine, Serine, Asparagine, and Valine in decreasing order.The most dominant genotype was found to be Genotype A (N = 10), while four sequences were Genotype D. In contrast to the in-silico

Background: Vaccine adjuvants are used to increase the immunogenicity of weak antigens. Some saponins have adjuvant effects that are exerted via their immune-stimulatory effects and production of cytokines. Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) contains saponins that could provide affordable vaccine adjuvants. This study aimed to assess the effect of the saponin extracts of soybean on the immune system in BALB/c mice immunized with the hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). Methods: Saponins were extracted from soybean meal and their presence confirmed by foam generation and Fourier-transform infrared methods. A total of 51 mice were immunized in triplicate with 50 µL of various regimens of concentrations of the extracts and either HBV vaccine or HBsAg. The plasma anti-HBsAg antibody titre was determined using an enzyme immunosorbent assay (ELISA) 14 days post-immunization. Gene expression levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), and haematological profile of the blood samples were determined. Results: When the two immunogens were co-administered with the soybean extract, immune response was slightly higher (0.799 + 0.013 for HBsAg and 0.758 + 0.012 for vaccine) than with the Revac B vaccine used alone. However, this difference was not statistically significant (p-value > 0.467, and 0.416 respectively). Unexpectedly, mice immunized with the vaccine expressed less IL-6 levels than the untreated mice (0.603- and 1.469-fold change in transcription (FCT), respectively). Mice treated with the vaccine expressed higher TNF-α levels than the untreated group (28.84 –and 1.00 FCT respectively) while adding the extract significantly reduced the expression of TNF-α (p < 0.063). Administration of immunogens and extract reduced neutrophil (P-value = 0.027) and platelet (p-value > 0.592) counts. Conclusions: The study demonstrated that soybean extract lacked marked adjuvant activity for HBV vaccine, that HBV vaccine suppressed expression of IL-6 and promoted expression of TNF-α.

Background: In the wake of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the World Health Organization recommended the use of alcohol-based hand rubs (ABHRs) to curb transmission, leading to increased production and use. This has posed a danger of production and use of poor-quality ABHRs. Methods: This study assessed and compared the quality of ABHRs in the Kenyan market that were produced before and after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Quality testing was carried out against European EN 1500:2013 and Kenyan EAS 789:2013 Standards. Results: The study found that 27.8% of the peri-pandemic sanitizers had less than 90% bactericidal reduction activity as compared to 12.5% manufactured pre-pandemic. Only 25% peri-pandemic ABHRs met the EAS 789:2013 acceptable limit of over 60% alcohol content. Product adulteration with methanol was found in 20 % of the samples with only 5% complying with FDA approval limit of <0.063% v/v methanol. Study found no correlation between the total alcohol content and the efficacy of ABHRs. Conclusions: The study found that more substandard products were produced during the pandemic. This raises a concern about possible emergence of alcohol resistant strains of microorganisms. The study therefore recommends an adequate quality monitoring system to curb against substandard products.

The current study assessed the anticoccidial efficacy of chitosan nanoencapsulated bromelain (CNB) against coccidiosis in goats. Bromelain was extracted from the pineapple peels using standard methods while oral solution of CNB was prepared using standard manufacturing methods. The in vivo study was done on fifteen healthy male goats naturally infected with coccidia. The goats were divided into three groups consisting of three treatment groups (90 and 270 mg/Kg CNB, Diclazuril, 5 mg/Kg). The drugs were administered orally for 3 days. Fecal Oocyst Counts (FOC) determined using the modified McMaster technique. The goats were observed for clinical signs on daily basis while body weight was recorded weekly. The level of packed cell volume (PCV), aspartate aminotransferases (AST), alanine aminotransferases (ALT), urea, and creatinine were assessed weekly. At the end of the study, goats were euthanized and gross pathology and histopathology conducted. The results showed that at day 28 post-treatment there was a significantly reduction of FOC of 98.42 and 82.30% for Diclazuril and 270 mg/Kg treatment groups, respectively. The reduction of FOC percentage was significantly higher (p ≤ 0.01) in Diclazuril group than that in 270 mg/Kg. During the monitoring period, there was no mortality or clinical signs observed in the goats. The PCV, AST, ALT, creatinine and urea were in normal ranges for goats. There were no pathological lesions on the goat organs. In conclusion, CNB had high anticoccidial efficacy and was safe for use in goats. Strategies to improve the efficacy of this potential drug should be further investigated.

Gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) significantly affect goats’ productivity, and thus farmers carry out regular deworming to manage the infections. The emergence of anthelmintic resistance and the high cost of current drugs call for the development of alternatives, including medicinal plant extracts. The current study aimed to assess the anthelmintic efficacy of chitosan encapsulated bromelain (EB) against a selected range of GIN affecting goats in Kenya. Bromelain was extracted using standard laboratory methods from peels of ripe pineapples and thereafter encapsulated with chitosan. The GIN eggs were isolated from goat feces using the flotation method and were then subjected to PCR to identify the species. Adult worms were collected from the gastrointestinal tract of goats slaughtered at the nearby Ruiru abattoir. The PCR showed the extracted strongyle eggs consisted of 7 species of nematodes, including Haemonchus contortus, Oesophagostomum spp., Nematodirus filicollis, Ostertagia ostertagi, Trichostrongylus vitrinus, Trichostrongylus colubriformis, and Trichostrongylus axei. The in vitro assays showed that chitosan EB had an IC50 of 0.184 mg/mL, 0.116 mg/mL, and 0.141 mg/mL for the egg hatch inhibition, larval, and adult mortality assays, respectively. In all the assays, EB indicated better activity than non-encapsulated bromelain. The EB affected the eggs and worms through softening and embrittling the cuticle and shell as well as damaging the blastomeres and causing the death of the growing embryo. According to the results of the current study, EB has high anthelmintic activity on a large range of GIN and has the potential to contribute to the management of these parasites of small ruminants.