A total of 406 adult cows and 34 bulls belonging to the Niger Kuri cattle population were assessed for 16 body measurements and 11 qualitative traits to contribute to the characterization of this unique cattle breed. Body measurements included facial, horn, ear and rump lengths; facial, cranial, shoulder, pelvic and ischium widths; height at withers and at hips; muzzle circumference; heart girth; body and tail lengths; and thorax depth. Qualitative traits included cephalic profile, ear shape, muzzle pigmentation, eyelid pigmentation, hoof pigmentation, horn colour, dewlap size, backline profile, horn shape, spotting pattern, and coat colour pattern. Data were analysed jointly with 377 individuals from four other West African taurine cattle breeds (N'Dama, Lagunaire, Lobi and Somba) using multivariate statistical methods, including canonical and correspondence analyses. Among the breeds analysed, Kuri cattle had the highest mean values for all body measurements: height at withers and body length had mean values of 124.0 ± 0.4 and 146.8 ± 1.0 cm in Kuri cows, respectively, and 126.0 ± 2.2 and 155.7 ± 3.6 cm, respectively, in Kuri bulls. Canonical analysis allowed the construction of contour plots to illustrate the high differentiation between Kuri cattle and the other breeds, regardless of the sex of the individuals. Further, the Mahalanobis distance matrices showed that pairs involving Kuri cattle had the higher differentiation of these populations. Correspondence analysis carried out on these 11 qualitative traits allowed the researchers to ascertain a clear differentiation between the Kuri and the other taurine cattle breeds. The N'Dama, Lagunaire, Lobi, and Somba breeds did not show clear differentiation at qualitative-type trait level with 75% confidence regions computed for these four breeds being highly intermingled. In the current data, Kuri cattle had the highest frequency in qualitative features, such as concave cephalic profile, dropped ears, non-pigmented muzzle and grey-coloured horns, which are absent in West African taurine and zebu cattle breeds, according to the literature. The current evidence would suggest that unique Kuri cattle type features may result from breeding decisions rather than from zebu admixture. This work confirms that at type trait level Kuri cattle is a unique population within the West African taurine cattle group. The implementation of genetic analyses aiming at ascertaining the degree of uniqueness of the breed is advised.

A 27-year-old woman, gravida 1, was seen at our surgical emergency department with abdominal pain at 25 weeks' gestation. She had pain, nausea and vomiting, a temperature of 37°C and a blood pressure of 100/70 mmHg. The cervix was closed, and an ultrasound scan showed a normal single fetus. A plain abdominal radiograph showed distension of the colon and a sigmoid volvulus. At emergency laparotomy, non-gangrenous sigmoid colon was resected with primary anastomosis. There were no complications, and 4 months later the patient delivered a healthy infant. Early diagnosis of sigmoid volvulus in pregnancy and prompt intervention minimise maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality.

The distribution of schistosomiasis is focal, so if the resources available for control are to be used most effectively, they need to be directed towards the individuals and/or communities at highest risk of morbidity from schistosomiasis. Rapid and inexpensive ways of doing this are needed, such as simple school questionnaires. The present study used such questionnaires in an area of western Côte d’Ivoire where Schistosoma mansoniis endemic; correctly completed questionnaires were returned from 121 out of 134 schools (90.3%), with 12 227 children interviewed individually. The presence of S. mansoni was verified by microscopic examination in 60 randomly selected schools, where 5047 schoolchildren provided two consecutive stool samples for Kato-Katz thick smears. For all samples it was found that 54.4% of individuals were infected with S. mansoni. Moreover, individuals infected with S. mansoni reported ‘‘bloody diarrhoea’’, ‘‘blood in stools’’ and ‘‘schistosomiasis’’ significantly more often than uninfected children. At the school level, Spearman rank correlation analysis showed that the prevalence of S. mansoni significantly correlated with the prevalence of reported bloody diarrhoea (P = 0.002), reported blood in stools (P = 0.014) and reported schistosomiasis (P = 0.011). Reported bloody diarrhoea and reported blood in stools had the best diagnostic performance (sensitivity: 88.2%, specificity: 57.7%, positive predictive value: 73.2%, negative predictive value: 78.9%). The study, which is probably the largest of its kind ever undertaken in Africa, revealed a moderate diagnostic performance of questionnaires for identifying individuals and/or communities at high risk from S. mansoni.

La esquistosomiasis presenta una distribución focal, por lo que, para que los medios de lucha disponibles tengan la mayor eficacia posible, es importante centrarse de manera prioritaria en las comunidades o los individuos más afectados. Con ese fin es indispensable servirse de medios rápidos y baratos tales como los cuestionarios escolares simples. En el presente estudio se utilizaron ese tipo de cuestionarios en una zona del oeste de Côte d’Ivoire donde S. mansoni es endémico. Se distribuyeron los cuestionarios en 134 escuelas, 121 de las cuales (90,3%) los devolvieron correctamente cumplimentados; en total se interrogó individualmente a 12 227 alumnos. Por otra parte se analizó la presencia de S. mansoni practicando exámenes microscópicos en 60 escuelas elegidas al azar: se aplicó la técnica de Kato-Katz (frotis grueso de materia fecal) a muestras de heces de dos días consecutivos de 5047 alumnos. El 54,4% de los individuos de los que procedía el total de las muestras estaban infectados por S. mansoni. Además, los alumnos infectados por S. mansoni habían notificado con frecuencia significativamente más alta que los no infectados la presencia de «sangre en las heces», o haber sufrido «disentería» o «esquistosomiasis». En las escuelas, el coeficiente de correlación de rangos de Spearman mostró que la prevalencia general de S. mansoni se correlacionaba significativamente con la notificación de disentería (P = 0,002), la notificación de presencia de sangre en las heces (P = 0,014) y la notificación de esquistosomiasis (P = 0,011). Los síntomas de disentería y de presencia de sangre en las heces lograron el mejor resultado diagnóstico (sensibilidad: 88,2%; especificidad: 57,7%; valor predictivo positivo: 73,2%; valor predictivo negativo: 78,9%). El estudio, probablemente el más amplio de ese tipo realizado en África, reveló que los cuestionarios tienen un poder diagnóstico moderado a efectos de identificación de los individuos y/o las comunidades con alto riesgo de presencia de S. mansoni.

La schistosomiase (bilharziose) est une maladie qui montre une répartition en foyers et, si l’on veut tirer le meilleur parti possible des moyens de lutte disponibles, il est important de les consacrer en priorité aux individus et/ou aux communautés les plus touchés. Des approches rapides de détection des cas à moindre coût, comme par exemple de simples questionnaires scolaires, sont donc indispensables. Dans un foyer de forte endémie de schistosomiase à S. mansoni situé dans l’ouest de la Côte d’Ivoire, un questionnaire a été distribué dans 134 écoles primaires. Cinq semaines après, 121 écoles (90,3 %) avaient répondu - 12 227 élèves avaient été interrogés individuellement. On a cherché à obtenir une confirmation parasitologique dans 60 écoles tirées au hasard et les selles de 5047 élèves ont été analysées par la méthode de Kato-Katz, pendant deux jours consécutifs. La prévalence globale de S. mansoni a été de 54,4 %. De plus, les élèves infectés par S. mansoni ont répondu plus fréquemment avoir eu du « sang dans les selles », une « dysenterie » et une « bilharziose » que les autres. Dans les écoles, le coefficient de corrélation des rangs de Spearman a montré que la prévalence globale de S. mansoni présentait une corrélation statistique très significative avec la fréquence des réponses positives aux questions suivantes : « As-tu eu de la dysenterie depuis un mois ? » (p = 0,002), « As-tu eu du sang dans les selles depuis un mois ? » (p = 0,014) et « As-tu eu la bilharziose depuis un mois ? » (p = 0,011). Les symptômes « dysenterie » et « sang dans les selles » ont donné les meilleurs résultats au plan diagnostique (sensibilité : 88,2 %, spécificité : 57,7 %, valeur prédictive positive : 73,2%, valeur prédictive négative : 78,9 %). Ces deux symptômes sont donc les plus fiables pour l’identification rapide des individus et/ou des communautés présentant un risque élevé de morbidité due à S. mansoni.