Suchergebnisse

Aflatoxins are toxic by-products of fungi contaminating maize and other crops; they can be carried over into milk, meat and eggs when livestock eat aflatoxin-contaminated feed or fodder. People who consume such animal products are exposed to the toxins. To assess the aflatoxin contamination status in marketed raw milk and associated risk factors in peri-urban Nairobi, we conducted a census of raw milk retailers in Dagoretti Division, Nairobi, Kenya. Structured questionnaires were filled in by face-to-face interviews with all retailers who agreed to participate in this study. Small portions of milk were purchased from each respondent and tested for aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) using competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA) tests. Geographic coordinates of each eligible retailer were recorded. A total of 350 milk retailers were visited and 344 were plotted on a map. Of these, 250 retailers answered the questionnaire and a milk sample from each of 200 retailers underwent cELISA analysis for AFM1. Four types of businesses were found: kiosks (71%), dairy shops (21%), street or mobile vendors (3%) and grocery stands (1%); for 4% the business type was not identified. Milk was mainly sourced directly from dairy farms (59%) or from intermediate distributors (35%). Most retailers sold less than 20 litres per day of raw milk. The mean daily milk consumption of the milk retailers' households was 940 ml for adults and 729 ml for children. Although 58% of retailers had heard about aflatoxins and the majority of them agreed that aflatoxins could be present in milk, only 29% believed that "milk safety cannot be solely judged by sight or taste" and only 6% that "milk is not completely safe even after boiling". The cELISA test found the mean concentration of AFM1 was 128.7 parts per trillion (ppt) (median=49.9; 95% confidence interval=3.0–822.8) with a maximum of 1675 ppt. Overall, 55% of samples exceeded the European Union maximum level of 50 ppt and 6% exceeded the recommended maximum level of the United States Food and Drug Administration of 500 ppt. Compared to milk from street vendors, a significantly higher amount of AFM1 was detected in milk from kiosks and dairy shops, especially when the milk was sourced from farms without an intermediate distributor. Our findings indicate the need to better understand and manage aflatoxin in milk in Nairobi.

Aflatoxins are toxic by-products of fungi contaminating maize and other crops; they can be carried over into milk, meat and eggs when livestock eat aflatoxin-contaminated feed or fodder. People who consume such animal products are exposed to the toxins. To assess the aflatoxin contamination status in marketed raw milk and associated risk factors in peri-urban Nairobi, we conducted a census of raw milk retailers in Dagoretti Division, Nairobi, Kenya. Structured questionnaires were filled in by face-to-face interviews with all retailers who agreed to participate in this study. Small portions of milk were purchased from each respondent and tested for aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) using competitive enzymelinked immunosorbent assay (cELISA) tests. Geographic coordinates of each eligible retailer were recorded. A total of 350 milk retailers were visited and 344 were plotted on a map. Of these, 250 retailers answered the questionnaire and a milk sample from each of 200 retailers underwent cELISA analysis for AFM1. Four types of businesses were found: kiosks (71%), dairy shops (21%), street or mobile vendors (3%) and grocery stands (1%); for 4% the business type was not identified. Milk was mainly sourced directly from dairy farms (59%) or from intermediate distributors (35%). Most retailers sold less than 20 litres per day of raw milk. The mean daily milk consumption of the milk retailers' households was 940 ml for adults and 729 ml for children. Although 58% of retailers had heard about aflatoxins and the majority of them agreed that aflatoxins could be present in milk, only 29% believed that "milk safety cannot be solely judged by sight or taste" and only 6% that "milk is not completely safe even after boiling". The cELISA test found the mean concentration of AFM1 was 128.7 parts per trillion (ppt) (median=49.9; 95% confidence interval=3.0–822.8) with a maximum of 1675 ppt. Overall, 55% of samples exceeded the European Union maximum level of 50 ppt and 6% exceeded the recommended maximum level of the United States Food and Drug Administration of 500 ppt. Compared to milk from street vendors, a significantly higher amount of AFM1 was detected in milk from kiosks and dairy shops, especially when the milk was sourced from farms without an intermediate distributor. Our findings indicate the need to better understand and manage aflatoxin in milk in Nairobi.

The South African food safety and animal food control systems are developed and enforced by three government departments: Department of Health (DOH), Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). Animal health relies heavily on veterinary drugs for controlling pests and diseases. Movement of animals and animal products, is also a potential method of transmission of pests and diseases within and between countries. Human health is inextricably linked to animal health and production through zoonotic and foodborne hazards. By eating animal products (meat, milk, eggs, etc.), humans are exposed to microbiological hazards and chemical residues.This paper will describe and critically review the relevant legislation and regulations as well as their implementation, highlighting discrepancies and overlaps. Four working groups of eight key informants performed a gap analysis and defined actions and steps to remedy the gaps for: 1) Legislation for the registration for veterinary drugs and pesticides in animal feeds; 2) Animal health legislation, including veterinary public health, biosecurity and animal diseases; 3) Microbiological hazards and chemical residues in food of animal origin; and 4) Laboratory capacity for residues and animal diseases surveillance and monitoring. There is a shortage of academic institutions devoted to teach applied regulatory toxicology and aquatic animal health. Furthermore, due to duplication of activities from two authorities regulating the registration of veterinary medicines and stock remedies, there is poor utilization of scare skills for surveillance, monitoring and evaluators responsible for human food safety evaluation of drugs intended for food animals. Food safety of animal products is fragmented as a result of it not being under only one Ministry. Different aspects of legislations fall under the three departments. Lines of responsibility are not always well understood as they sometimes overlap and inconsistently applied. There are also a number of stakeholders involved at local, regional and international level. International standards in line with Codex, World Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), are followed, in line with international obligations. National governments and private sector standards are applied by producers and processors of animal derived food. At local level there are provincial and municipal regulations for implementation of National directives, as well as private standards of supermarkets, butchers, dairies and other retailers of animal derived foods. In conclusion, South Africa needs to have one broad veterinary legislation which covers animal disease control, registration and control of veterinary drugs (including insecticides manufactured for administration to animals), food safety including food protection, prevention and elimination of zoonoses and aspects of laboratory animal facilities and diagnostic laboratories, health education and extension.

In South Africa, safety of animal derived food is fragmented, which complicates implementation at national, provincial and local level. Different aspects fall under the Departments of Health (DOH), Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)'s National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) and the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS). There are also a number of non-governmental stakeholders and role players involved. At international level these include the FAO, WHO, OIE and Codex. At national level they include SANAS, SABS, ISO and the private sector standards used by producers and processors of animal derived food. At local level there are provincial and municipal regulations for implementation of National directives, as well as private standards of supermarkets, butchers, dairies and other retailers of animal derived foods. As a result, lines of responsibility are not always well understood as they sometimes overlap or apply differently to different situations. Participatory risk analysis was done to assess the existing South African regulatory framework for key variables in food safety, against national and international FAO/ WHO/ OIE and Codex benchmark standards. Four working groups of eight key informants performed a gap analysis and defined actions and steps to remedy the limitations that currentlyexist in the registration of veterinary medicines and pesticides in animal feeds, animal health, laboratory capacity, surveillance and monitoring of animal diseases and both microbiological and chemical residues in animal source foodstuffs.This paper will describe and critically review the relevant legislation and regulations as well as their implementation, highlighting discrepancies and overlaps.

Japan has been free from rabies since the 1950s. However, during the early 1900s several large-scale epidemics spread throughout the country. Here we investigate the dynamics of these epidemics between 1914 and 1933 in Osaka Prefecture, using archival data including newspapers. The association between dog rabies cases and human population density was investigated using Mixed-effects models and epidemiological parameters such as the basic reproduction number (R0), the incubation and infectious period and the serial interval were estimated. A total of 4,632 animal rabies cases were reported, mainly in dogs (99.0%, 4,584 cases) during two epidemics from 1914 to 1921, and 1922 to 1933 respectively. The second epidemic was larger (3,705 cases) than the first (879 cases), but had a lower R0 (1.50 versus 2.42). The first epidemic was controlled through capture of stray dogs and tethering of pet dogs. Dog mass vaccination began in 1923, with campaigns to capture stray dogs. Rabies in Osaka Prefecture was finally eliminated in 1933. A total of 3,805 rabid dog-bite injuries, and 75 human deaths were reported. The relatively low incidence of human rabies, high ratio of post-exposure vaccines (PEP) and bite injuries by rabid dogs (minimum 6.2 to maximum 73.6, between 1924 and 1928), and a decline in the proportion of bite victims that developed hydrophobia over time (slope = -0.29, se = 3, p < 0.001), indicated that increased awareness and use of PEP might have prevented disease. Although significantly more dog rabies cases were detected at higher human population densities (slope = 0.66, se = 0.03, p < 0.01), there were fewer dog rabies cases detected per capita (slope = -0.34, se = 0.03, p < 0.01). We suggest that the combination of mass vaccination and restriction of dog movement enabled by strong legislation was key to eliminate rabies. Moreover, the prominent role of the media in both reporting rabies cases and efforts to control the disease likely contributed to promoting the successful participation required to achieve rabies elimination.

Porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) was detected for the first time in seven years in Japan in October 2013 in Okinawa Prefecture. By December 2013, PED had spread into Miyazaki and Kagoshima Prefectures in the southern part of Kyushu, one of the regions with the highest farm density in the country. The objective of the study here was to assess the spatial dynamics of PED spread during the 8 months of the epidemic in the southern part of Kyushu between December 2013, the month observed first case in the studied region, and July 2014. Information on location and capacity of all farms in the prefectures (n = 1269) was obtained from a government database containing demographic information for livestock producers. Additionally, data on PED detection (positive or negative) was obtained from the regional Livestock Hygiene Service Center. The Cuzick-Edwards (CE) test, the Knox test, the directional test, and the permutation model of the scan statistic were used to assess the spatio-temporal distribution of the epidemic. PED cumulative farm level incidence was 19.5% (248/1269) through the study period. The highest density of positive farms was observed in the most farm-populated areas of the prefecture. The CE test revealed an extensive degree of spatial clustering, with clustering of positive sites being significant (P < 0.01) up to the 35th level of neighborhood (approximately 5 km in the studied data). The observed-to-expected ratio of cases was maximized at short spatio-temporal distances, with values of the observed-to-expected ratio of cases maximized when the thresholds were set at 2 km and 10 days, respectively. A significant (P < 0.01) direction of spread was detected towards the northeastern direction. The permutation model detected five significant (P < 0.01) clusters occurring at different stages of the epidemic wave. The strong spatio-temporal clustering of PED-infected farms during the first 6 months of the epidemic in the southern part of Kyushu is consistent with results obtained elsewhere and demonstrates the rapid spread of the virus in naïve populations.

Food borne diseases (FBD) are an increasing global public health concern with estimated 1 in 10 people falling ill every year from eating contaminated food causing 420,000 deaths. Diarrheal diseases accounted for more than half of the global burden with children at especial risk (WHO 2015). Evidence on FBD in low and middle income countries, including Vietnam, is still limited but the risk is considered to be higher than in high income countries due to poor hygiene, inadequate food production and storage, risky consumption habits, and weak legislation and enforcement. For Vietnam, pork is an important component of the diet and accounts for more than 70% of meat consumed: most (84%) is supplied by small and medium scale farmers. Recent ILRI studies have demonstrated strong preferences of Vietnamese consumers for fresh, un-chilled pork sold at conventional wet markets but also increasing concerns over food safety have been expressed by urban consumers. Existing food safety studies along the pig sector have focused on assessment of hazards (mainly Salmonella) at a specific actor of the pork chain while farm to fork approaches or studies measuring the impact of hazards to human are limited. Since 2012 ILRI has implemented specific studies assessing food safety issues including zoonoses along pig value chains in selected regions of Vietnam. This included risk assessments of food safety hazards in pork such as Salmonella along a more peri-urban value chain with mainly exotic pigs or their crosses (Hung Yen province). In addition, we assessed the presence of two major zoonoses (trichinellosis and cysticercosis) in a rural indigenous pig value chain in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. Results for Hung Yen show a high presence of biological hazards (e.g. 43% pork cuts at market are Salmonella contaminated). Key challenges include poor slaughter and meat handling hygiene (eg. floor slaughter) aligned with low awareness on related health risks among interviewed actors. Another challenge is to identify feasible incentives to motivate change of behavior and practice of actors. For the native pig system (Central Highlands) sporadic infections with trichinellosis and cysticercosis were found. Key challenges include here predominant risky farm management practices (free roaming of pigs) but also very low awareness and knowledge on zoonoses of native pig producers who are often members of poor ethnic minorities. ; Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research