Browsing by Author "Komba, Erick V.G."

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Human and animal Campylobacteriosis in Tanzania: a review
(Tanzania Journal of Health Research, 2013) Komba, Erick V.G.; Mdegela, Robinson H.; Msoffe, Peter L.M.; Ingmer, Hanne
The thermotolerant species of Campylobacter have become very important in public health, particularly as agents of infectious diarrhoea in human beings. Though the mechanism by which they cause disease is yet to be fully explained, they have been recognized as the leading cause of bacterial enteritis in both developed and developing countries. The organisms colonize different animal species without causing any symptoms of disease; and humans acquire infections through contact with or consumption of contaminated meat especially raw/undercooked poultry meat. The growing trend of antibiotic resistant Campylobacter isolates continues to pose significant public health challenges. In this review we present the available information generated in Tanzania about Campylobacter infections in humans and animals. We conducted a structured literature search of PUBMED and ScienceDirect electronic databases and identified 15 articles. Studies on humans reported Campylobacter infections in both symptomatic and asymptomatic subjects; with higher prevalence in children under the age of five years. Studies on animals found colonization of both domestic and wild species. Among isolates, some demonstrated antimicrobial resistance. The available information for both human and animal Campylobacteriosis in the country is sparse. It however provides an insight of the bacteriological and epidemiological aspects of Campylobacter infections in the country and eventually creates more awareness on the need to develop control strategies. Since the organism is zoonotic its control strategies should adopt the “One Health” approach involving collaborative efforts from veterinary and human medicine.
Occurrence and seasonal predisposition of fasciolosis in cattle and goats slaughtered in Kasulu district abattoir, Western Tanzania
(ROAVS, 2013) Nzalawahe, Jahashi; Komba, Erick V.G.
A 3 year study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of fasciolosis in cattle and goats slaughtered at Kasulu district abattoir. It involved 33 months (July, 2010 to March, 2013) retrospective data collected as abattoir records and three months (April, 2013 to June, 2013) prospective meat inspection by researchers, during which adult worm and egg samples were collected for morphometric identification. During the study period, a total of 8410 cattle and 8424 goats were slaughtered and inspected; out of which 6376 (76%) and 2295 (26%) were found to be infected with fasciolosis respectively. The study observed significant seasonal pattern of fasciolosis in cattle with higher prevalence observed during the dry season. Worm and egg identification suggested that F. gigantica was responsible for the infections in slaughtered cattle and goats. This is the first study to report the occurrence of fasciolosis in domesticated ruminants in western Tanzania and has established that fasciolosis is highly prevalent in cattle and goats. Effective control strategies need to be put in place focusing on both the parasite and the snail intermediate hosts.
Sanitary practices and occurrence of zoonotic conditions in cattle at slaughter in Morogoro Municipality, Tanzania: implications for public health
(Tanzania Journal of Health Research, 2012) Komba, Erick V.G.; Komba, Ewaldo V; Mkupasi, Ernatus M.; Mbyuzi, Albano O.; Mshamu, Shaabani; Luwumba, Denice; Busagwe, Zablon; Mzula, Alexanda
As meat consumption is increasing worldwide to cover for protein demands, also raise concerns and challenges regarding meat hygiene and safety. The current one year follow up study aimed at investigating on sanitary practices and occurrence of zoonotic conditions, during post- mortem examination, in cattle at slaughter in Morogoro Municipality abattoir. Sanitary practices were assessed through direct observation where as routine post-mortem inspection procedures were employed to detect zoonotic conditions in cattle at slaughter. During the study period a total of 30,713 cattle were slaughtered and inspected at the abattoir. Results revealed poor hygienic practices at the level of abattoir surrounding, the slaughter operation area, personnel as well as meat vans. Whole carcasses, lungs, livers, hearts and heads were condemned due to zoonotic conditions at rates of 0.026%, 1.96%, 1.61%, 0.02% and 0.21% respectively. Bovine tuberculosis, Cysticercus bovis cysts, fasciolosis and hydatidosis were the responsible zoonotic conditions for the condemnations. Bovine tuberculosis was a leading zoonotic cause of condemnations accounting for 95.7% of lungs and 100% of all head and carcass condemnations. Cysticercus bovis cysts were ranking the second in serving as causes of condemnations closely followed by fasciolosis and lastly hydatidosis. Occurrence of disease conditions with zoonotic implication in cattle at slaughter, meant for human consumption, may pose significant economic and public health risks to especially disaster-prone marginalized communities. Thus, there is a need to introduce appropriate control measures of livestock diseases to minimize the rate of infection; and eventually reduce economic losses and safeguard public health.
Synthetic gut microbiome: Advances and challenges
(Elsevier, 2020) Mabwi, Humphrey A.; Kim, Eunjung; Song, Dae-Geun; Yoon, Hyo Shin; Pan, Cheol-Ho; Komba, Erick V.G.; Ko, GwangPyo; Hyun Cha, Kwang
An exponential rise in studies regarding the association among human gut microbial communities, human health, and diseases is currently attracting the attention of researchers to focus on human gut microbiome research. However, even with the ever-growing number of studies on the human gut micro- biome, translation into improved health is progressing slowly. This hampering is due to the complexities of the human gut microbiome, which is composed of >1,000 species of microorganisms, such as bacteria, archaea, viruses, and fungi. To overcome this complexity, it is necessary to reduce the gut microbiome, which can help simplify experimental variables to an extent, such that they can be deliberately manip- ulated and controlled. Reconstruction of synthetic or established gut microbial communities would make it easier to understand the structure, stability, and functional activities of the complex microbial commu- nity of the human gut. Here, we provide an overview of the developments and challenges of the synthetic human gut microbiome, and propose the incorporation of multi-omics and mathematical methods in a better synthetic gut ecosystem design, for easy translation of microbiome information to therapies.
Toxoplasma gondii in cattle, camels and sheep in Isfahan and Chaharmahal va bakhtiary provinces, Iran
(Jundishapur Journal of Microbiology, 2014) Khamesipour, Faham; Doosti, Abbas; Mobarakeh, Hamid Iranpour; Komba, Erick V.G.
Background: Toxoplasma gondii is a zoonotic parasite, which is assumed to have cosmopolitan distribution. Objectives: Adopting a cross-sectional study design the current research aimed to determine the occurrence of the parasite in cattle, camels and sheep in Isfahan and Chaharmahal va Bakhtiary provinces of Iran. Materials and Methods: Animals in the field and those brought for slaughter at abattoirs were included. Blood samples were randomly collected from animals and investigated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results: T. gondii infections were detected in 0.00%, 6.60% and 17.9% of the sample cattle (n = 155), camels (n = 122) and sheep (n = 95) respectively. Sheep were more frequently affected in Chaharmahal va Bakhtiary (33.33%) compared to Isfahan (8.47%) (P = 0.005, 95%; CI = 6.88-43.35). No statistically significant difference was observed in infection prevalence between camels and sheep; and between the different sex categories in both camels and sheep. Conclusions: Evidence of T. gondii occurrence in sheep and camels was provided in the provinces under study. There is a need to investigate the potential risk factors of zoonotic infections. Furthermore, animal health and production losses caused by the parasite; and associated zoonotic implications in the area under study need to be explored.