Urban agriculture. #Farm fresh vegetables.

Urban agriculture, simply put is farming in the city and a lot of agricultural practices can actually fall into this category. Urban agriculture could be practiced on side walks, front porch,roof tops or in sacks or bags as in sack farming. Farming in the city can be a challenge because of space constraint,but with urban agriculture every space is useful. I was of the opinion myself that land was scarce,that farming could only be done in rural settings but today ive proved that to be a very wrong notion. Urban agriculture can be practiced without stress in the city and the profit will amaze you,all you need is a creative mind. The pictures below show my vegetable farm, where i have lettuce, jute leaves,greens and cucumbers. more The farm is on a back porch, other locations are on side walks,roof tops and yes in bottles and sacks.As the weeks go by, ill show more pictures from different locations and the vegetables planted. The beauty of this project is that it has a short time line,giving me the opportunity to turn over fast and practice mixed farming. The lettuce is ready for sale,so order yours now !!!

Rabies detected in a chicken in India.

All mammals are susceptible to rabies. Raccoons, skunks, foxes, bats, dogs, coyotes and cats are the likely suspects. Animals like otters and ferrets are also high risk. 

Mammals like rabbits, squirrels, rodents and opossums are rarely infected and no mention of birds until recently. Indian researchers have reported the first case of rabies in a domestic fowl, a chicken, in the country, according to a study published in the journal, PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

The chicken (Gallus domesticus), was bitten by a stray dog and died a month later. It’s carcass was sent to the rabies diagnostic laboratory. The brain tissue was positive for rabies viral antigens by fluorescent antibody test (FAT) confirming a diagnosis of rabies. Additional analysis revealed that the rabies virus strain from the domestic fowl belonged to a distinct and relatively rare Indian subcontinent lineage. 

 The authors say the significance of this finding indicates that spill over of infection even to an unusual host is possible in highly endemic areas. In addition, butchering and handling of rabies virus- infected poultry may pose a potential exposure risk. 

 Researchers conclude the present report indicates that rabies is a disease that can affect birds. Lack of obvious clinical signs and fewer opportunities for diagnostic laboratory testing of suspected rabies in a bird, may be the reason for the disease in these species being undiagnosed and probably underestimated.continue

Vitamin D could help control TB in animals.

A new study has shown that vitamin D supplementation could help control tuberculosis(TB) in animals. Wild boar and red deer are key hosts of TB and transmit the disease to cattle and other species, causing a major problem in farm and domestic animals across Europe, but Vitamin D supplementation can reduce the severity of tuberculosis (TB) in wild boar and red deer. A research published Research in Veterinary Science reveals that vitamin D supplementation reduces the incidence and severity of tuberculosis (TB) in wild boar and red deer.Vitamin D is known to influence the severity of TB in humans but its relationship with cattle and other mammals has not been studied until recently. This research takes the 'One Health' approach, that explores human and animal health in a holistic way using key learnings across both disciplines. In the study, half of the animals were given a vitamin D3-enriched food while half were no provided with supplement. In animals with TB, there was a clear correlation between the severity of the disease and their blood concentration of vitamin D3. These animals were also more likely to be suffering from a localized TB infection than severe generalized TB.

World rabies day in Lagos.

The world rabies day celebrated on the 28/September every year, this year's celebration was marked with public lectures, free vaccination exercises and awareness campaign around the state. The event this year was different because of the collaboration with medical officers from hospitals and primary health centers ,school children and youth corp members. 

 The participation of various local government officials,environmental health workers and various local council development areas,emphasized the importance of awareness campaign from bottom up. The day marked with lectures by some veterinarians and medical officers and free vaccination is shown in pics below;

Rabies kills prevent it.

 

 Rabies a deadly fatal but preventable viral disease that affects warm blooded animals and can also affect man being a zoonotic disease. The rabies virus is transmitted through bite of an infected animal, the saliva is the medium of infection. The virus usually transferred through bites from infected animals or from salivary secretions from infected animals on wounds,cuts and scratches. 

This mode of infection is usually common in the dumb form of rabies ,where the animal is docile, shy but drooling saliva. This form of rabies is the most dangerous as the animal is not a suspect, but rather the owner is cuddling and stroking the pet and coaxing it to eat and be social. The exposure to the drooling saliva usually results in transmission of the virus through mucous membranes, minor cuts and tiny bites,with the owner not seeking medical attention. 

 The furious form of rabies is the most common and recognizable type,where the animal is very violent,drooling saliva, barking and chasing things or people. The animal with this form of rabies are usually sneaky,creeping up behind victims or suddenly charging out at animals or humans in his path. 

When a pet owner notices a sudden change that is violent ,with the animal barking,howling at moving objects,snapping and biting stuff and drooling of saliva,such animal should be reported to animal control for quarantine. 

 When bitten by a dog ,cat monkey or bat carry out the following ; 1) wash the area with soap and water for at least 15 minutes and apply alcohol to the site and go to the hospital for post exposure rabies prophylaxis. 

The animal in question should be quarantined, while the person is getting the shots. People that have died as a result of rabies, is because they did not seek medical attention early,or the pet owner gave false report about the vaccination status ,thus giving the victim false hope that the pet is not rabid. 

 This is the sad case of a boy bitten by a dog who supposedly had an up to date vaccination record,but alas!!! tragedy struck..

The bumble bees use nicotine to fight off parasites.

Bumblebees that have been infected by parasites seek out flowers with nicotine in the nectar, with the aim to fight off the infection. Nicotine slows the progression of disease in infected bees but has adverse effects when consumed by healthy bees. The bumblebees are not the only animal that uses nicotine as a defense mechanism, the house sparrows also relies on nicotine to fight off infection by using cigarette butts in their nests to ward off mites. Bumblebees infected with parasite always chose sugar solution with nicotine in it than one without, infected bumblebees that consumed nicotine delayed the progress of the infection for a few days, showing lower levels of parasites than those that had not taken the nicotine laced sugar solution.

Sugar treat for bees creates a positive emotion state.

Scientists have discovered that when bumblebees drink a small droplet of really sweet sugar water, they behave like they are in a positive emotion-like state.The results published in the journal Science shows that after bumblebees drink a small droplet of really sweet sugar water, they behave like they are in a positive emotion-like state. Biologists at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) findings suggest that insects have states that fit the criteria of emotions and open up new avenues for research into positive emotions in relatively simple nervous systems. The researchers trained bees to find food at a blue flower and no food at a green flower, and then tested the bees on a new blue-green flower. Bees that drank a small droplet of sugar water prior to the test took less time to land on the ambiguous-coloured flower. The other experiments showed that this behavior wasn't due to bees just getting more excited or searching faster. This indicates that the sweet sugar water may be causing a positive emotion-like state in bees, similar to humans and other animals.