A Review of the Impact of Mycotoxins on Dairy Cattle Health: Challenges for Food Safety and Dairy Production in Sub-Saharan Africa

David Chebutia Kemboi; Gunther Antonissen; Phillis E Ochieng; Siska Croubels; Sheila Okoth; Erastus K Kangethe; Johannes Faas; Johanna F Lindahl; James K Gathumbi

doi:10.3390/toxins12040222

A Review of the Impact of Mycotoxins on Dairy Cattle Health: Challenges for Food Safety and Dairy Production in Sub-Saharan Africa

Toxins (Basel). 2020 Apr 2;12(4):222. doi: 10.3390/toxins12040222.

Authors

David Chebutia Kemboi^{1

2}, Gunther Antonissen^{3

4}, Phillis E Ochieng^{3

5}, Siska Croubels³, Sheila Okoth⁶, Erastus K Kangethe⁷, Johannes Faas⁸, Johanna F Lindahl^{9

10

11}, James K Gathumbi¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathology, Parasitology and Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Nairobi, PO Box 29053, 00100 Nairobi, Kenya.
² Department of Animal Science, Chuka University, P.O Box 109-00625 Chuka, Kenya.
³ Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Biochemistry, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium.
⁴ Department of Pathology, Bacteriology and Avian Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium.
⁵ Department of Food Sciences, University of Liège, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Avenue de Cureghem 10, 4000 Liège, Belgium.
⁶ School of Biological Sciences, University of Nairobi, P.O Box 30197-00100 Nairobi, Kenya.
⁷ P.O Box 34405, 00100 Nairobi, Kenya.
⁸ BIOMIN Research Center, Technopark 1, 3430 Tulln, Austria.
⁹ Department of Biosciences, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), P.O Box 30709, 00100 Nairobi, Kenya.
¹⁰ Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Uppsala University, P.O Box 582, 751 23 Uppsala, Sweden.
¹¹ Department of Clinical Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O Box 7054, 750 07 Uppsala, Sweden.

Abstract

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites of fungi that contaminate food and feed and have a significant negative impact on human and animal health and productivity. The tropical condition in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) together with poor storage of feed promotes fungal growth and subsequent mycotoxin production. Aflatoxins (AF) produced by Aspergillus species, fumonisins (FUM), zearalenone (ZEN), T-2 toxin (T-2), and deoxynivalenol (DON) produced by Fusarium species, and ochratoxin A (OTA) produced by Penicillium and Aspergillus species are well-known mycotoxins of agricultural importance. Consumption of feed contaminated with these toxins may cause mycotoxicoses in animals, characterized by a range of clinical signs depending on the toxin, and losses in the animal industry. In SSA, contamination of dairy feed with mycotoxins has been frequently reported, which poses a serious constraint to animal health and productivity, and is also a hazard to human health since some mycotoxins and their metabolites are excreted in milk, especially aflatoxin M1. This review describes the major mycotoxins, their occurrence, and impact in dairy cattle diets in SSA highlighting the problems related to animal health, productivity, and food safety and the up-to-date post-harvest mitigation strategies for the prevention and reduction of contamination of dairy feed.

Keywords: Sub-Saharan Africa; aflatoxin; aflatoxin M1; dairy; mycotoxins.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Africa South of the Sahara
Animal Feed / microbiology*
Animal Husbandry
Animals
Consumer Product Safety
Dairy Products / adverse effects*
Dairying*
Food Chain*
Food Microbiology*
Fungi / metabolism*
Humans
Mycotoxins / adverse effects*
Mycotoxins / metabolism
Risk Assessment

Substances

Mycotoxins

Grants and funding

Leap Agri Mycosafe South Project/Leap Agri Mycosafe South Project/International