Academic Journal of Life Sciences
Online ISSN: 2415-2137
Print ISSN: 2415-5217
Print ISSN: 2415-5217
Quarterly Published (4 Issues Per Year)
Archives
Volume 9 Number 2 December 2024
Epidemiology, Virology, Transmission, Symptoms and Treatment of Mpox: A Review
Authors: Muhammad Ali ; Shamsu Ishaq Abdullahi ; Abubakar Usman Zage ; Farouk Sani Nas ; Bashir Muhammad Bello
Pages: 19-24
DOI: doi.org/10.32861/ajls.92.19.24
Abstract
Mpox (previously named monkey pox) is caused by infection with monkey pox virus, a member of the genus Orthopoxvirus in the family Poxviridae. On August 14, 2024, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern about the upsurge of Mpox cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and a growing number of countries in Africa. The virus can be transmitted from animal-to-human, human-to-human and from a contaminated environment-to-human. Index cases are infected by direct contact with the blood, bodily fluids, or cutaneous or mucosal lesions of infected animals, including through their bite or scratch. Symptoms include; fever, intense headache, lymphadenopathy (swelling of the lymph node), back pain, myalgia (muscle ache) and an intense asthenia (lack of energy). The infection is also characterized by Skin eruption period where rashes appear in various stages often beginning on the face and then spreading elsewhere on the body including leg, trunk and palm. Vaccination remains the most effective method of preventing mpox. The paper review the epidemiology, virology, transmission, symptoms and treatment of mpox.
Proximate Composition and Phytochemical Characterization of a Commercial and Two Wild Strains of Ganoderma Lucidum Collected From Tree Stumps in Benin City, Nigeria
Authors: Wisdom R. Poyeri ; Elijah I. Ohimain ; Godwin Jackson
Pages: 14-18
DOI: doi.org/10.32861/ajls.92.14.18
Abstract
Ganoderma lucidum is a fungus that is used for the treatment of diverse chronic conditions in many countries. This study used standard chemical laboratory methodologies to assess the proximate composition and phytochemicals present in a commercial strain (W1) and two wild strains (W2 and W3) of Ganoderma lucidum that were obtained from wood stumps in a tropical rainforest in Benin City, Nigeria. The results showed that the three Ganoderma strains were significantly different in their proximate composition (P<0.05). The proximate composition of W1 was 1.74±0.06 %, 18.40±0.04%, 13.56±0.03%, 2.29±0.04%, 3.88±0.02% and 60.15±0.13% for ash, moisture, crude protein, crude lipid, crude fibre and carbohydrate respectively. The commercial strain had lower levels of ash, crude fibre and carbohydrates but higher levels of moisture, crude protein and crude lipid relative to the wild strains (P<0.05). The concentrations of phytochemicals among the strains were significantly different except for steroids. Relative to the wild strains, higher levels of phenol and hydrogen cyanide, but lower levels of alkaloids, flavonoid, tannin, glycoside, terpenoid, phytate, oxalate and anthroquinones was detected in the commercial strains (P<0.05). The wild strains because of their higher concentrations of phytochemicals are expected to be more potent.