Issue 1

The experiment was carried out at Kaunia upazila in Rangpur district to investigate the socioeconomic conditions of the farmers, use of different hormones, feed additives and their effects. The data were collected through interview schedule by selecting 30 respondents who were involved in goat fattening. Collected data were analyzed using Excel sheet. It was found that most of the farmers were middle aged categories (50%) and educational level of the farmers was primary (57%), secondary (23%), and higher secondary (10%). Half of the respondents were farmer, followed by businessman (20%). About 67% farmers used own capital, 3% farmers took loan from bank and 23% took loan from other sources such as NGO. It was also found that about 33% respondents had on short time training experience and the rest 67% had no experience. Almost 97% farmers reared Black Bengal goat and 3% Jamunapari goat. Near about 97% farmers used roadside grass and tree leaves and only 3% farmers used cultivated fodder. Only 7% farmer used growth promoter & feed additives in feed where 93% farmers are not being used growth promoter &feed additives in feed. But not a single farmer used growth hormones for fattening purpose. Therefore, still now goat meat would be safe for human consumption without any health hazard.

The study was conducted to determine the total viable count (TVC) and total coliform count (TCC) of unpasteurized, pasteurized and UHT milk samples to assess their microbiological quality. A total of 60 milk samples were collected from different markets of Mymensingh, Gazipur and Sherpur districts. The TVC of milk was performed to determine the bacterial load in supplied milk samples and TCC to determine the coliform bacterial load in collected milk samples. Milk samples were cultured onto various selective media for the isolation of bacteria. The isolated bacteria were identified by cultural properties on different selective media, biochemical tests and finally by PCR. Out of 60 samples 20 unpasteurized milk samples from different markets were found positive for Staphylococcus aureus and 19 unpasteurized milk samples were found positive for Escherichia coli. All the S. aureus were found positive for S. aureus specific 16S rRNA gene by PCR. Out of 19 isolates of E. coli, 15 were found positive for E. coli 16S rRNA gene by PCR. Results of antimicrobial susceptibility test showed that most of the isolates of S. aureus and E. coli were susceptible to azithromycin, streptomycin, gentamicin, norfloxacin, tetracycline and ciprofloxacin but resistant to amoxicillin and erythromycin. The findings of this study revealed the presence of multidrug resistant S. aureus and E. coli in unpasteurized milk samples that posseses a serious threat to public health.

The study was carried out from November, 2014 to February, 2015 with the objective of isolating Aeromonas hydrophila an important fish pathogen from infected air-breathing catfish Magur (Clarias batrachus) in Mymensingh district. Quantitative study of the isolated bacteria from infected C. batrachus was found variation of number in different organs. Total bacterial load was found to be 1.16 x 10⁵ to 3.15 x 10⁶ cfu/g in lesions, 2.14 x 10⁸ to 4.17 x 10⁹ cfu/g in liver, 1.90 x 10⁷ to 5.12 x 10⁸ cfu/g in spleen and 2.32 x 10⁶ to 5.24 x 10⁸ cfu/g in kidney of infected C. batrachus in Mymensingh district. The isolates were found to produce acid from arabinose, whereas acid and gas from different sugar media such as maltose, sucrose, and dextrose. Morover, they were capable to ferment glucose but resistant to vibriostatic agent 0129 test.  Further identification of A. hydrophila was accomplished using PCR. The PCR products of desired 760 bp were obtained for A. hydrophila. The isolated A. hydrophila were 96% sensitive to Enrofloxacin followed by 88% to Ciprofloxacin and 76% to Levofloxacin. On the other way, 100% were resistant to the Ampicillin followed by 96% to Penicillin and  92%  to Novobiocin. So far, this is the first molecular identification of A. hydrophila from farmed C. batrachus in Bangladesh. The present study will provide future research scopes on identification of pathogenicity island in chromosome and serotyping of all A. hydrophila isolates.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a worldwide public health problem. As per nephrologists' estimation, the CKD population grows at approximately 5% annually and in 2022, over 29 million people will be afflicted with CKD in Bangladesh. The objective of this study was to compare nutritional status, food intake pattern, and lifestyle between dialyzed and non-dialyzed kidney patients in Bangladesh. It was a cross-sectional comparative study of patients aged 18 to 85 year old to compare nutritional status, food intake pattern, and lifestyle between dialyzed and non-dialyzed kidney patients. Sample was conducted in three divisions Dhaka, Khulna and Rajshahi in Bangladesh. Data on food intake pattern, height, weight, GFR, other diseases along with kidney disease, physical activity, smoking and socioeconomic status etc. were collected from fifteen clinical centers and sometimes from household via in-person interviews. A total of 244 patients aged were selected among them 152 people were dialyzed patients and 92 people were Non-dialyzed patients. We found a relationship among dietary food habit, lifestyle factors and health outcomes such as chronic kidney disease progression, heart disease and death. Patients had a mean monthly family income of 23683.46, a mean monthly expenditure on food of 3815.2 and a mean monthly expenditure on treatment of 13317.69. According to our findings, highest dialysis patients were sedentary than non-dialysis patients were active at their active life (20-40 Years). From this study it was investigated that, 41.0% patients have not changed their addiction habit after diagnosis, where 20.1% dialysis patients and 20.9% non-dialysis patients have not changed their addiction habit totally. Another significant finding of this study was that dialysis patients had poor consumption from 16 groups. It can be highlighted that, the prevalence of the diseases were higher in urban people than rural people. This study suggests that additional research is needed to investigate the optimal dietary recommendations and body mass index levels to prevent disease progression and poor outcomes among individuals with CKD. The prevalence of HD-CKD and NDD-CKD can be said to be SES dependent. Chronic kidney disease and its complications, which involve most organ systems, can be prevented, but awareness and use of accurate methods are needed to enable timely diagnosis.

The present study was to provide information about the nutritional status of lactating women as well as proffer solutions that are aimed at improving maternal nutrition in the study area. The study area was Gangni union of Meherpur district. 105 exclusively breastfeeding women aged 16-35 years old were initially enrolled in the study. Of these study lactating women completed 24h dietary recall food intake. The findings was about 16.2% lactating mothers were under 19 years, 53.3% respondents were between the ages of 20-25 years, 23.8% respondents were between the ages of 26-30 years and 37.1% lactating mothers had completed primary education. About 95.2% respondents were housewife and 4.8% respondents were service holders. The finding was 56.2% respondents have one child and 38.1% respondents have 3 family members, 43.8% respondent has 4 family members. About 7.6% respondents are underweight, 55.2% respondents are normal, 33.3% respondents are overweight and 3.8% respondents are obese. Total 7.6% respondents are underweight, 55.2% respondents are normal, 33.3% respondents are overweight and 3.8% respondents are obese where 5.7% respondents under 19 year aged and 1.9% respondents over 30 year aged are underweight. About 40% respondents got surgerian delivery where 60% respondents got normal delivery. It was found that 100% respondents maintain hygiene such as washing hands before eating foods, washing hands after using bathroom, brushing teeth regularly, avoiding nasty foods etc.

The present study was carried out to evaluate the comparative capability of producing infections and causing mortality of the experimental Magur (Clarias batrachus) with motile Aeromonas species. A total of 200 apparently healthy C. batrachus were acclimatized to the laboratory conditions for experimental study. Nine different groups (each group consisting of 20 fish) of healthy C. batrachus was injected with nine motile Aeromonas isolates (A. hydrophila-3, A. sobria-3 and A. caviae-3). Experimental C. batrachus were infected with motile A. hydrophila, A. sobria and A. caviae to groups 1-3, 4-6 and 7-9, respectively while group 10 was injected with sterile physiological saline (0.85% NaCl) and served as the control. The selected motile bacterial species via intramuscularly were injected at the rate of 4.5 × 10⁵ cfu/fish for pathogenicity study on C. batrachus and monitored up to two weeks. The highest clinical infections were noticed 90% in group-3 whereas only 35% in group-8 within the experimental period.  After two weeks of the experiment, the cumulative mortality rate was also found highest (60%) in group-3 but lowest (15%) in group-9 while no infection or mortality showed in group-10 (control group). The development of infection and mortality to the injected C. batrachus was associated more severely by Aeromonas hydrophila than A. sobria and A. caviae used in this study. However, the isolates motile Aeromonas species could serve as the primary cause of skin lesions as well as mortality in cultured C. batrachus.

A feeding trial was conducted to investigate the effect of Probiotic (Biofast) on the growth performance and meat quality of broiler chicken. Ninety six 1-d-old mix sexed Cobb 500 broiler chicks were obtained from a local commercial hatchery. Chicks were randomly allocated in 2 experimental treatments for 5 wk. The experimental treatments received a 1) control, 2) control with probiotic Biofast 0.055% (bacillus subtilis-100%) in the diet. Both treatments had 48 broilers arranged in 4 replicates of 12 broilers each. Eight birds from 2 different groups (one/replication) were sacrificed on termination of the feeding trial of breast, thigh to investigate the meat quality. Feed intake in treatment T1 was significantly (P > 0.05) greater than control in 0 to 3 weeks of age. Though in starter phase treatments failed to induce any marked effects on body weight, weight gain and FCR but numerically increased in T1 than control. In finisher period (4-5 wks), there were no significant differences on body weight, weight gain, feed intake and FCR between the treatments. The organ weight like liver, heart, kidney, spleen, gizzard, abdominal fat and intestine weight also did not show any significant differences between the dietary treatments of control and Biofast. In addition, though the dressing % was not significantly different but numerically higher percentage was found by using Biofast. Similarly, no significant differences (p>0.05) were found in pH, cooking loss, meat color and TBA values between the treatments. In conclusion, supplementation of Biofast in diet has no significant effect on the growth performance of broiler chicks though it has got some positive effects on other parameters that indirectly revealed to enhance meat quality of broiler chicken as well as food safety issues.

This investigation was carried out to evaluate the microbiological quality of the processed dairy products including borhani, matha/labang, sweet & sour yoghurt. Dairy products are consumed as desert and popular enough among the people. 50 of the different dairy samples were collected from street vendor and also from some branded shop in Dhaka city. The microbiological quality of the samples were analyzed and monitored according to criteria in European Commission Recommendations 2004/24/EC and 2005/175/EC, BSTI and USPHS. All the dairy products had high microbial load ranged  5.90×10⁵cfu/ml to 8.97×10⁹ cfu/ml. Coliforms were found up to 10⁹ dilutions in milk based drink products Borhani and Labang considered a serious threat to the public health. The mold contamination was much lower in Borhani and Labang compared to yoghurt 7.86×10⁸cfu/ml. Approximately 17% dairy products were contaminated by Salmonella spp. Majority of the dairy products (25.537%,) such as Yogurt, Borhani and Labang were contaminated by Staphylococcus spp. The presence of Listeria monocytogenes found in Yogurt, 7 out of 21 (21.515%) samples were contaminated. A minor number of milk based products were corrupted by Shigella spp. These results emphasize applying and maintaining good hygiene practices throughout the processing chain to prevent contamination and bacterial growth. It was concluded that the presence of some pathogens in milk based products with toxigenicity of some strains pose a health hazard to consumers. Thus, good hygienic practices, good manufacturing practices, HACCP with all other hygienic practices should be applied during processing and distribution for public health safety.

This study was undertaken to assess the effects of gamma irradiation (0, 1.5, 2, 4 kGy) on shelf life and meat quality of Black Bengal goat. About 3 kg of fresh Black Bengal goat meat samples were taken and divided into four groups like T₁ (non-irradiated, control), T₂ (irradiated, 1.5 KGy), T₃ (irradiated, 2.0 KGy) and T₄ (irradiated, 4.0 KGy). Irradiated and non-irradiated meat samples were stored at refrigeration temperature to elucidate the storage effect. One way ANOVA was performed to investigate the effects of gamma irradiation on different groups. Significant differences were found in color and overall acceptability compared to non-irradiated group and only overall acceptability significantly decreased with increasing storage. No significant differences were observed in flavor, tenderness and juiciness between non-irradiated and irradiated groups. Irradiation influenced color and overall acceptability of chevon. Dry matter content was found higher in 4 KGy irradiated group and increased gradually in day intervals. Cooking loss, free fatty acid, peroxide value and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances indicated 1.5 KGy irradiation rated best. Microbial findings revealed that 2 KGy irradiated group is better due to safe level of microbial loads which increase shelf life of Black Bengal goat meat. Finally, it may be concluded that 1.5 and 2 KGy doses gamma irradiation in Bengal goat meat enhances sensory attributes, physico-chemical and microbial levels found satisfactory.

An experiment was conducted at the Department of Agricultural Chemistry, BAU to assess the heavy metal status in different feed and fertilizer samples collected from Sadar and Trisal upazilas of Mymensingh district. The feed samples included poultry and fish feeds, whereas, fertilizer samples included DAP, TSP, MOP, gypsum and zinc sulphate (ZnSO₄). AAS analysis of Cd, Cr and Pb showed variable levels of contamination in the fertilizer and feed samples. In case of feed samples, Cd, and Pb contents in fish feed collected from Sadar upazila was 0.159 and 3.581 mg kg^-1, respectively and that of Trisal upazila was 0.441 and 153.824 mg kg^-1, respectively. The content of Cd was 0.008 mg kg^-1 in poultry feed but in fish feed it was 0.441 mg kg^-1. The Cr content in both poultry and fish feeds collected from Sadar and Trisal upazilas were below the detection level. In general, heavy metals contaminations were higher in different fish feed samples compared to that of poultry feed samples, especially in samples from Trisal upazila.The Cd contents in DAP, TSP, MoP, gypsum and ZnSO₄ collected from Sadar upazila were 1.560, 14.749, 0.137, 0.906 and 10.312 mg kg^-1, respectively, and that of Trisal upazila were 1.780, 15.662, 3.988, 1.180 and 3.165 mg kg^-1, respectively. The Cr contents in DAP, TSP, MoP, gypsum and ZnSO₄ collected from Sadar upazila were 60.392, 206.667, 15.882, 24.314 and 11.373 mg kg^-1, respectively. Whereas, mean Cr concentrations DAP, TSP, MoP and gypsum from Trisal upazila were 54.118, 168.431, 16.078 and 26.863 mgkg^-1, respectively. However, in ZnSO₄Cr was below the detection limit. Again, Pb contents in DAP, TSP, MoP, Gypsum and ZnSO₄ collected from Sadar upazila were 12.633,  45.729, 33.586, 13.319 and 30.014 mg kg^-1, respectively, and that of Trisal upazila were 4.062, 46.919, 101.205, 21.681  and 6.676 mg kg^-1, respectively. In general, heavy metal contamination levels in different fertilizer samples collected from Mymensingh Sadar were higher compared to that of Trisal upazila. The results showed that despite the close proximity of the market locations, heavy metal contents may vary in fertilizer and feed samples indicating various supply chains of these essential inputs are in place and calls for greater degree of quality monitoring from the government point of view.