Ethnoveterinary Pharmacology of Plants Used in Livestock Disease Management in Gombe State: Validation and Safety Assessment

Ethnoveterinary medicine, the traditional use of plant-based remedies for animal disease management, remains widely practised across rural North East Nigeria where modern veterinary services are inaccessible or unaffordable. Gombe State represents a culturally diverse livestock-keeping community where Fulani and other pastoral groups employ a rich repertoire of medicinal plants for treating conditions including trypanosomosis, helminthiasis, respiratory disease, and wounds. This study documented and pharmacologically validated the most frequently used ethnoveterinary plants in Gombe State through structured ethnobotanical surveys with 120 herders and traditional veterinary practitioners, followed by phytochemical profiling, antimicrobial testing, and acute toxicity assessment of the five highest-cited plant species. Survey instruments were administered in Hausa and Fulfulde with trained interpreters. Tamarindus indica, Balanites aegyptiaca, Khaya senegalensis, Cassia sieberiana, and Commiphora africana were the most cited plants for livestock treatment. Aqueous extracts of all five species demonstrated antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Pasteurella multocida in disk diffusion assays. Minimum inhibitory concentrations ranged from 25 to 200 mg/mL. Acute oral toxicity testing in mice showed LD50 values above 2000 mg/kg for four of the five species, indicating relatively low acute toxicity. Khaya senegalensis bark extract caused mild hepatotoxicity at 1500 mg/kg. Phytochemical screening confirmed alkaloids, tannins, saponins, and terpenoids across all species. These findings provide the first validated pharmacological data for frequently used ethnoveterinary plants in Gombe State and support cautious integration of evidence-based traditional remedies into rural livestock healthcare. Keywords: ethnoveterinary, medicinal plants, Gombe State, pharmacology, safety.