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Abstract
The poultry industry in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is faced with feed insecurity, associated with high cost of feeds, and feed safety, associated with locally produced feeds often contaminated with mycotoxins. Mycotoxins, including aflatoxins (AFs), fumonisins (FBs), trichothecenes, and zearalenone (ZEN), are common contaminants of poultry feeds and feed ingredients from SSA. These mycotoxins cause deleterious effects on the health and productivity of chickens and can also be present in poultry food products, thereby posing a health hazard to human consumers of these products. This review summarizes studies of major mycotoxins in poultry feeds, feed ingredients, and poultry food products from SSA as well as aflatoxicosis outbreaks. Additionally reviewed are the worldwide regulation of mycotoxins in poultry feeds, the impact of major mycotoxins in the production of chickens, and the postharvest use of mycotoxin detoxifiers. In most studies, AFs are most commonly quantified, and levels above the European Union regulatory limits of 20 μg/kg are reported. Trichothecenes, FBs, ZEN, and OTA are also reported but are less frequently analyzed. Co-occurrences of mycotoxins, especially AFs and FBs, are reported in some studies. The effects of AFs on chickens’ health and productivity, carryover to their products, as well as use of mycotoxin binders are reported in few studies conducted in SSA. More research should therefore be conducted in SSA to evaluate occurrences, toxicological effects, and mitigation strategies to prevent the toxic effects of mycotoxins.
Highlights
The poultry industry in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is an essential subsector of agriculture, providing food, employment, and other economic resources for the region
This review summarizes occurrences of mycotoxins in poultry feed and feed ingredients from SSA over the last 23 years
Similar to DON and FBs, ZEN is reported to be a frequent contaminant of poultry feeds and was detected in over 50% of poultry feeds from Kenya [10], South Africa [6,33], and Nigeria [8,31]
Summary
The poultry industry in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is an essential subsector of agriculture, providing food, employment, and other economic resources for the region. African countries have gradually grown over the past decades to commercial poultry value chains that include feed suppliers, hatcheries, housing, and slaughtering equipment, as well as veterinary services [5]. This growth in production systems will inevitably become more intensive and thereby increase the demand for high-quality poultry feeds. Climatic conditions in most regions in SSA are characterized by high relative humidity, high temperatures, and little aeration [13] These conditions make crops more liable to mycotoxin contaminations as they accelerate growth and mycotoxin biosynthesis by toxigenic fungi. Worldwide regulations of mycotoxins in poultry feeds and the impact of mycotoxins on layer and broiler chickens’ production as well as the use of mycotoxin binders as postharvest mycotoxin mitigation strategies are reviewed
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