Legionnaires' disease became widely known following an outbreak of pneumonia in the United States in 1976. It is often caused by infection from artificial water sources such as cooling towers, water supply and heating systems, and recirculating hot tubs. To effectively implement infection prevention measures for Legionnaires' disease, collaboration among healthcare workers, water supply and heating system managers, building hygiene personnel, and other relevant parties is essential. It is important to note that outbreaks of Legionnaires' disease continue to occur frequently both domestically and internationally. While the number of reported cases of Legionnaires' disease in Japan has increased, the mortality rate has decreased but has stabilized at a lower level. Caution is also required as reports have been made in association with disasters and travel, in addition to artificial environmental water.

This study aimed to assess the knowledge level of street food vendors on hygiene in the Tamale metropolis in the Northern Region of Ghana. The study employed the health belief model as the theoretical basis. Quantitatively, the study employed a descriptive cross-sectional study design to examine the microbial load of street-cut fruits and assess the knowledge and practice of vendors of cut fruits on personal and food hygiene in the study setting. The population consists of cut and vented pawpaw, watermelon, and street fruit vendors registered with the health directorate in the Tamale Metropolis. A convenient sampling technique was used to select 113 respondents for the study. The Yamane formula was used to determine the sample size to select one hundred and thirteen participants (113) out of one hundred and fifty-eight street fruit vendors in the Tamale Metropolis. The main instrument for data collection was a questionnaire. A questionnaire had close-ended questions which were developed using a 'Yes' and 'No' response, and a four-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1=Strongly Disagree (SD), 2=Disagree (D), 3=Agree (A) and 4= Strongly Agree (SA). The data were analysed using descriptive statistics (frequency, percentages, means and standard deviation). The findings revealed that the overall knowledge level of respondents is low. The findings also indicate that vendors do not control the rate at which their customers touch their vended fruits. It is recommended that Street fruit vendors and handlers be educated on fruit hygiene practices through engagement by the Health Directorate Unit of Tamale Metropolis and the Ministry of Health. To keep consumers safe, the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly must strictly enforce compliance with regulations on operation permits and health clearance certificates. Metropolitan sanitation officers must regularly monitor fruit vendors to ensure compliance with goods.

Hand hygiene is crucial in preventing healthcare-associated infections. In this study, we aimed to quantify the accuracy of subjective evaluation of hand washing through visual inspection and objective evaluation through images. The participants were 24 consenting nursing students, and the study used black light and fluorescent paint to generate sketches and captured images of the unwashed areas, which were processed. Handwashing training was conducted once a week for four consecutive weeks. We collected data in the first and fourth training sessions. We found that the percentage of the unwashed palmar areas was significantly higher in the images than in the sketches (p<0.05). The percentage of the uncleaned area as recognized visually significantly increased for sketches (p=0.01) and decreased for images (p=0.009) in the fourth session. The difference between the percentages of the image and sketch area notably decreased in the fourth session (p=0.002). When we checked the recognition percentage of the unwashed area by dividing the right-hand palmar side into six areas, the fingertips had the highest percentage, and the ball of the thumb had the lowest percentage. The recognition of the unwashed areas was low when comparing the subjective visual assessment with the objective imagery assessment. In addition, the percentage of the unwashed areas decreased with repeated training, indicating a decrease in the difference between the subjective and objective ratings.

Tanga City is the region with several micro-and small-scale pasta processing companies in the country. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the quality and safety of folded vermicelli produced by the small-scale processors in Tanzania. Samples of 1 kg folded vermicelli were collected from 14 processing companies, by the intentional cluster sampling technique. The samples were analysed for aflatoxin and microbiological (Escherichia coli, Aspergillus flavus, and Aspergillus parasiticus) quality. Moreover, physico-chemical quality was assessed in terms of diameter by using a digital calliper, moisture content by oven-drying method at 110℃± 5℃, breaking strength by the texture analyzer, and colour by colourimeter (Chroma Meter CR-400) of the collected samples were determined. In terms of microbial quality, the results indicated contamination by E. coli (1.25-3.00 Log CFU.g^-1 in 8/14 samples), A. flavus (2.23-2.83 Log CFU.g^-1 in 12/14 samples), and A. parasiticus (1.22-2.75 Log CFU.g^-1 in 2/14 samples) as they are beyond the set limits. The diameter varied between 0.90 mm to 1.73 mm in 9/14 samples and moisture content were 10.61% to 12.65% in 13/14 samples, being within the established parameters. The samples indicated low breaking strength with levels between 6.79x10⁵ N.m^-2 to 3.75x10⁶ N.m^-2 in 11/14 samples. The result of brightness (L*) were between 53.03 to 72.14 and yellowness (b*) between 13.68 to 19.48 indices, indicating that there was no significant difference at the 5% level, respectively, although 2/14 samples had red (a*) colour values (-1.32 – +0.56). However, 4/14 samples were detected with aflatoxin B₁ (0.60-0.70 μg.kg^-1), they are within the recommended level (5 μg.kg^-1). The study underscores the need for concerted efforts to enhance production and hygiene practices to ensure consistent compliance with quality and safety standards.