ABSTRACT
The study was undertaken to determine the presence and concentration of some heavy metals in selected tissues of cattle slaughtered from southern agricultural zone of Nasarawa state using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). Fifty samples comprising 10 each of liver, kidney, skin, intestine and muscle were collected and analyzed for the presence of Ni, Cr, Pb, Cu and Cd. Male and female cattle of two age categories (Young and Older) were sampled for the study. The mean concentration of Ni, Pb, Cu and Cd in all the sampled tissues were generally low and within the permissible limit. High levels of Cr was detected in all samples with mean concentration of 3.9926 mg/kg, 2.4440 mg/kg, 2.9909 mg/kg, 2.1688 mg/kg and 4.0100 mg/kg in intestine, kidney, liver, muscle and skin respectively. There exist significant difference (P< 0.05) in the mean concentration of Ni and Cu between young and older cattle. Higher levels of Cr, Pb and Cd was detected in the tissues of female animal than male. The result from this study indicates that cattle slaughtered from the study area are free from Cd, Cu, Ni and Pb residues, but contained high levels of Cr. Public and private sector should establish cattle ranches so as to reduce the possibility of grazing cattle in heavy metal contaminated feed and pasture.

ABSTRACT
This study was conducted on 160 poultry farmers in Sokoto state, Nigeria with the use of questionnaire to assess the knowledge, attitude and compliance of poultry workers with preventive measures for poultry diseases in six Local Government Areas of the State. Information obtained from respondents showed that about 82.5% knows about poultry disease with 3.3% through newspaper, 1.5% television, 1.5% friends and 84.9% experience. The most common poultry disease known was Newcastle disease (41%) followed by Gumboro (40%) and coccidiosis (31.9%) among others. Also 60.6% of the respondents have heard about poultry disease outbreak with Avian Influenza having the highest frequency of 63.9%. Only 39.4% had ever experience an outbreak on their farm while 32.5% had never experienced it. Out of all the respondents 46.3% received lectures or training on poultry diseases often and 30% do not. Disease prevention methods employed in both commercial farms and backyard ones includes vaccination (82%), medication (71%), sanitation (43%), disinfection (10.6%), use of foot dip (60.6%), use of farm personnel clothing (59.4%), isolation of sick birds (88.1%). 48.1% of the farmers had their farms free of wild birds (vectors) while the rest had invasions. Twenty-one point nine per cent of the respondents disposed carcasses in refuse dump while 31.9% preferred to bury poultry carcasses. Finally, it was concluded that, the low level of commercial poultry production in the study area might be due to poor practices by the farmers. So, it is recommended that, government should put program about training poultry farmers on biosecurity, disease prevention and adoption of modern husbandry practices suitable for both commercial poultry production system and backyard poultry production system.

ABSTRACT
A total of 200 sera samples were collected from Guinea fowl (100) and Pigeons (100) and subjected to Indirect Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). Out of these, 99 samples (49.5%) were found positive for MG antibodies. The prevalence of MG infection was 60% in Guinea fowl and 39% in Pigeons. In Guinea fowls the males has a slightly high prevalence of 61.7% compared to the females with a prevalence rate of 57.5%. This study revealed that Mycoplasma gallisepticum infection is prevalent and widespread in both Guinea fowls and Pigeons within Sokoto metropolis. In Nigeria and most part of Africa these two species are usually reared in the same households with the local chickens hence may serve as potential source of infection to them resulting in a more severe disease in the chicken population.