ILRI food safety researchers present on health impacts of aflatoxins in animal-source foods

Aflatoxins are highly toxic fungal by-products produced by certain strains of Aspergillus flavus in grains and other crops. Consumption of very high levels of aflatoxins can cause acute illness and death. Chronic exposure to aflatoxins is linked to liver cancer, especially where hepatitis is prevalent, and this is estimated to cause as many as 26,000 deaths annually in sub-Saharan Africa.

Aflatoxins in contaminated animal feed not only result in reduced animal productivity, but the toxins can end up in products like milk, meat and eggs, thus presenting a health risk to humans. Of these animal-source food products, milk has the greatest risk because relatively large amounts of aflatoxin are carried over and milk is consumed especially by infants.

As part of knowledge exchange on the latest research developments in the area of aflatoxins and food safety, Delia Grace and Johanna Lindahl, food safety researchers from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), presented on aflatoxins, animal health and the safety of animal-source foods at a virtual briefing organized by the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development, a network of 37 bilateral donors, multilateral agencies and international financing institutions working to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable rural development.

Their presentation began with an overview of aflatoxins and how livestock and fish get exposed to aflatoxins. This was followed by a discussion on the impact of aflatoxins on animal health and production, how aflatoxins in crops move through the food chain to end up in animal-source foods and ways to manage the risk of aflatoxins in animals and animal-source foods.

The need for evidence-based approaches in developing standards for animal feeds was highlighted, as well as the need for risk-based regulation and legislation to provide guidelines on safety issues such as appropriate management of aflatoxin-contaminated feed.

The presentation concluded with a summary of the key messages and policy recommendations, followed by a question-and-answer session.

Watch the recording of the briefing (approx. 34 minutes)

Jump to the question-and-answer session [16:37]

More information on research on aflatoxins and food safety is available in a set of 19 research briefs published in November 2013 by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). The briefs were co-edited by Laurian Unnevehr of IFPRI and Delia Grace of ILRI.

Read more about ILRI’s research projects on aflatoxins

• Capacity and action for aflatoxin reduction in eastern Africa
• Measuring and mitigating the risk of mycotoxins in maize and dairy products for poor consumers in Kenya

 

ACIAR newsletter highlights ILRI project on risk assessment for improved food safety in Vietnam

Hmong butchers selling pig meat from the indigenous Hmong black pig, recognizable from its thick layer of fat below the skin, Bac Ha, Lao Cai Province, Vietnam (photo credit: ILRI/Jo Cadilhon).

The July 2014 issue of Partners Magazine, the flagship publication of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), features an article on an ACIAR-funded project led by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) that uses a risk assessment approach towards improving the safety of pig and pork value chains in Vietnam.

Hung Nguyen-Viet, an ILRI scientist and deputy director of the Center for Public Health and Ecosystem Research (CENPHER) at the Hanoi School of Public Health, is playing a lead role in the project which is working to strengthen local capacity on risk assessment for effective management of food safety along the entire value chain.

Read the article, Food safety from farm to fork

Read more about CENPHER in their new report, CENPHER five year report 2009–2014: From a research project to a research center

 

New ILRI report assesses risk of Ebola in Uganda’s pig value chain

Local breed sow and piglets on a farm in Masaka district, Uganda. A new research report assesses the risk of Ebola in the pig value chain in Uganda. (photo credit: ILRI/Eliza Smith).

Scientists from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) have published a report of a risk assessment to determine the threat of the deadly Ebola virus in the pig value chain in Uganda.

Uganda is currently witnessing a rise in demand for pork and this has led to increased pig production in the country, mostly under smallholder production systems.

These higher pig populations raised under free-range or tethering systems may create overlap of fruit bat habitats where the pigs scavenge for food, thereby presenting a possible risk of Ebola transmission as some bat species have been identified as reservoir hosts of the Ebola virus.

Uganda has experienced outbreaks of Ebola virus disease in the past. However, there are still many unanswered questions on the ecology and mode of transmission of the Ebola virus.

The risk assessment study, based on a systematic review of literature, identified possible routes of transmission of the Ebola virus if pigs are involved, for example, spread between wild and domestic pigs, direct contact between infected pigs and humans, and contact between pigs and fruit bats.

The study recommends more research on the possible role of pigs in Ebolavirus transmission, an area that is not well understood at the moment.

“The present data suggest that pigs may act as amplifying hosts, but likely not reservoir hosts. This suggests the conditions under which pigs become infected with Ebolavirus and the role they play in transmission may have many variables that will have to be elucidated,” the report states.

Further research is underway to investigate the possible role of domestic pigs in the ecology of Ebola virus in Uganda and understand the public health significance of the virus to the pig value chain in this country.

The work includes laboratory diagnostics from a large sample of blood from domestic pigs collected as part of the initial wider value chain disease assessment.

This will be accompanied by a risk mapping study using spatial epidemiology and key informant surveys as well as some participatory techniques with key stakeholders to better understand risk factors and to serve as a ‘ground-truthing’ exercise for the risk map.

It is hoped that this research will lead to further collaborations with other public health organizations and serve as a potential predictive tool in the event of future outbreaks of Ebola in Uganda.

Access the research report here

Citation
Atherstone C, Roesel K and Grace D. 2014. Ebola risk assessment in the pig value chain in Uganda. ILRI Research Report 34. Nairobi, Kenya: ILRI.

 

ILRI scientists present at international conference on building resilience for food and nutrition security

Delia Grace presenting at a side session on ‘Food safety: Options for addressing a growing crisis’ at IFPRI’s 2020 Conference on ‘Building Resilience for Food and Nutrition Security’ (photo credit: ILRI/Susan MacMillan)

On 15-17 May 2014, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) held an international conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on building resilience for food and nutrition security, with over 700 participants in attendance including researchers, policymakers and decision-makers.

Scientists from the Food Safety and Zoonoses program of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) were among the many speakers who presented at parallel sessions and side events.

Delia Grace gave a presentation on food safety in informal markets during a side event on Food safety: Options for addressing a growing crisis. She also spoke on dealing with food safety, nutrition, and public health crises during one of the parallel sessions.

Hung Nguyen-Viet spoke on food-borne diseases and public health shocks in East Asia and the Pacific while Bernard Bett presented on managing impacts from infectious disease outbreaks in dryland areas of East Africa.

More ILRI reports from the conference

Visit the conference website for more information and to access more of the conference resources.

 

ILRI publishes three policy briefs on ecohealth approaches to managing zoonoses in Southeast Asia

A live chicken vendor weighs a chicken in Hung Yen province, Vietnam (photo credit: ILRI/Nguyen Ngoc Huyen).

More than 6 out of 10 human infectious diseases are zoonotic (can be passed from animals to people). Southeast Asia is considered one of the hotspot areas for the emergence of zoonotic diseases. The rapid growth of economies and human populations have led to livestock intensification, land use changes and disruption in wildlife habitats, all of which are ideal for the emergence of zoonotic diseases.

From 2008 to 2013, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) led an action research project on zoonotic diseases in six countries in Southeast Asia: Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

Each country team comprised individuals and institutions with knowledge of ecohealth, representing multiple disciplines carrying out research on zoonotic emerging diseases. The project aimed to build ecohealth capacity and learn about the process of adopting the ecohealth approach in the country contexts.

The project has published three new policy briefs that highlight some of the key outcomes on stakeholder engagement processes, raising awareness of zoonotic diseases, and capacity building in One Health and ecohealth in Southeast Asia.

• Engaging stakeholders to manage emerging zoonotic diseases in Southeast Asia
• Increasing awareness of zoonotic diseases among health workers and rural communities in Southeast Asia
• Outcomes in building capacity and strengthening networks: Ecohealth in Southeast Asia

The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) funded the project.

Visit the project website for more information

 

ILRI and FAO host meeting of regional food safety experts to strengthen collaboration

Participants at a food safety stakeholder meeting held on 24 February 2014 and hosted by the International Livestock Research Institute and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (photo credit: ILRI/Samuel Mungai).

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) hosted a meeting in Nairobi, Kenya on 24-25 February 2014 to discuss increasing collaboration in the area of food safety. 

The meeting was linked with the recent signing of the memorandum of understanding between CGIAR  and FAO to strengthen ties between the two organizations for translating science to policy.

The first day was attended by over 25 representatives from more than 10 institutions including Kenyan government institutions, academia, international organizations and research institutions.

The representatives shared information regarding the work of their respective institutions in the area of food safety, identified some key areas for support, and provided an open forum to discuss food safety challenges.

During the discussion, ILRI and FAO presented an overview of ongoing or planned activities related to food safety.  Some of the key areas for support outlined by the stakeholders included food safety surveillance, generation of data, capacity building and improving collaboration across the wide range of stakeholders involved in managing food safety at the national level.

The second day was specifically for ILRI and FAO to discuss in detail possible areas for collaboration.  Each organization had outlined a wide range of topics to discuss including:

• multifactorial framework for policy decision-making in food safety;
• food safety risk analysis training opportunities;
• food safety surveillance including early warning and rapid alert systems; and
• practical food safety application in informal markets.

By the end of the meeting, the two organizations agreed on a number of activities that could benefit from joint efforts and for future collaborative work.

FAO representatives also had the opportunity to tour the ILRI campus facilities and discuss food safety issues with other ILRI colleagues outside of the Food Safety and Zoonoses team, including the Biosciences eastern and central Africa (BecA) Hub which supports the use of biosciences to address food safety and security challenges in Africa such as aflatoxins.

The two-day meeting was highly successful, with both organizations expressing support for increased collaboration in the area of food safety at global and regional levels.

This meeting is timely given the increasing momentum of food safety globally and in Africa, as evidenced by the proposed development of a food safety coordination mechanism and the generation of the Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa under the leadership of the African Union, among numerous other initiatives.

Download the workshop report

 

Farmers in Uganda gain from training in pig production and marketing

Pig production is an important livelihood activity for some 1 million smallholder households in Uganda, given the growing demand for pork in both rural and urban areas.

However, many smallholder pig farmers are constrained by lack of adequate information on animal health, feeding and breeding that can help them improve their pig husbandry and scale up their operations towards commercialized production and greater profits.

Pig Production and Marketing Uganda Limited works with pig farmers – from smallholder to large-scale – to increase productivity and create a reliable market for pig farm produce. The organization also offers technical support to pig farmers in Uganda.

As part of its efforts towards improving pig husbandry in Uganda, the organization held a training workshop on 14-15 February 2014 in Matugga, Wakiso District for some 70 farmers.

The aim of the workshop was to share knowledge on modern pig farming methods and good agricultural practices in pig husbandry. Other topics included feeding, breeding, pig health, management of pig diseases, farm management and record keeping.

Scientists from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) were invited to participate in the workshop as part of the team of facilitators.

Danilo Pezo, coordinator an ILRI project on smallholder pig value chain development in Uganda, gave the opening address. Kristina Roesel, coordinator of the ILRI-led Safe Food, Fair Food project, facilitated a session on pig and pork zoonoses in Uganda.

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The event received media coverage in the Daily Monitor newspaper (Piggery: Farmers urged on best practices, 19 Feb 2014)

Related blog post: Ugandans and pork: A story that needs telling (ILRI News blog, 19 Feb 2014)

 

New study published on risk-based assessment of pork safety in Nagaland, Northeast India

A woman feeds her pigs in Nagaland, India (photo credit: ILRI/Stevie Mann).

The first risk-based study of food safety in the pork value chain in Nagaland, Northeast India has identified several important microbiological hazards and assessed their impacts on human health.

Nagaland has the highest density of pigs in India and the highest pork consumption levels. Therefore, information on pathogens in pigs and pork in the region, and their health impacts, is useful for decision-making on interventions aimed at improving food safety and safeguarding the health of consumers.

The study investigated samples from pigs and pork sourced at slaughter in urban and rural environments, and at retail, to assess a selection of food-borne hazards. In addition, consumer exposure was characterized using information about hygiene and practices related to handling and preparing pork.

The food-borne pathogens identified include Listeria spp. and Brucella suis. A risk assessment framework assessed the health impacts of three representative hazards or hazards proxies, namely, Enterobacteriaceae, Taenia solium cysticercosis and antibiotic residues.

The study found that by using participatory methods and rapid diagnostics alongside conventional methods, risk assessment can be used in a resource-scarce setting.

The findings are published in a special issue on food safety and public health in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

View the article

Citation
Fahrion AS, Jamir L, Richa K, Begum S, Rutsa V, Ao S, Padmakumar VP, Deka RP and Grace D. 2014. Food-safety hazards in the pork chain in Nagaland, North East India: Implications for human health. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 11(1): 403-417.

 

IFPRI launches research briefs on aflatoxins and food safety

Harvested maize in Mozambique. Aflatoxins in maize and other staple crops pose significant public health risks in many developing countries (photo credit: ILRI/Stevie Mann).

Earlier this week, on Tuesday 5 November 2013, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) launched a set of 19 research briefs on managing aflatoxins for improved food safety.

Aflatoxins are naturally occurring carcinogenic by-products of fungi on grains and other crops like maize and groundnuts. They pose a significant threat to public health in many developing countries and are also a barrier to the growth of domestic and international commercial markets for food and feed.

Acute exposure to high levels of aflatoxins can be fatal while chronic exposure to aflatoxins has been linked to liver cancer and is estimated to cause as many as 26,000 deaths annually in sub-Saharan Africa. Aflatoxins have also been linked to stunted growth in children and immune system disorders.

The set of briefs – Aflatoxins: Finding Solutions for Improved Food Safety – provides different perspectives on aflatoxin risks and solutions. The analyses fall under four broad themes:

1. what is known about the health risks from aflatoxins;
2. how to overcome market constraints to improved aflatoxin control by building new market channels and incentives;
3. what is the international policy context for taking action in developing countries; and
4. what is the state of research on new aflatoxin control technologies, including new methods for aflatoxin detection, crop breeding, biological control, food storage and handling, and postharvest mitigation.

The briefs are co-edited by Laurian Unnevehr, senior research fellow at IFPRI and theme leader for value chains for enhanced nutrition in the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH), and Delia Grace, veterinary epidemiologist and food safety expert at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and theme leader for agriculture-associated diseases in A4NH.

Access the individual research briefs

Download the full set of research briefs (PDF)

Read more about ILRI’s research projects on aflatoxins:

• Capacity and action for aflatoxin reduction in eastern Africa
• Measuring and mitigating the risk of mycotoxins in maize and dairy products for poor consumers in Kenya

 

ILRI project poster wins top prize at international ecohealth conference

A poster based on research led by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) towards improving productivity and food safety in smallholder pig value chains in Uganda won the Best Poster award at the Africa 2013 EcoHealth Conference held in Côte d’Ivoire on 1-5 October 2013.

The poster, Assessment of knowledge, attitudes and practices on pork safety among smallholder pig farmers in Uganda, was prepared by Kristina Roesel, a PhD student at Freie Universität Berlin and coordinator of the ILRI-led Safe Food, Fair Food project.

The study was carried out by the Safe Food, Fair Food project in collaboration with the Smallholder Pig Value Chains Development in Uganda project.

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