Phages for Africa: The potential benefit and challenges of phage therapy for the livestock sector in sub-Saharan Africa

One of the world’s fastest-growing human populations is in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), accounting for more than 950 million people, which is approximately 13% of the global population. Livestock farming is vital to SSA as a source of food supply, employment, and income. With this population increase,...

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Main Authors: Makumi, Angela, Mhone, Amos L., Odaba, Josiah, Guantai, Linda, Svitek, Nicholas
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: MDPI 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/115238
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author Makumi, Angela
Mhone, Amos L.
Odaba, Josiah
Guantai, Linda
Svitek, Nicholas
author_browse Guantai, Linda
Makumi, Angela
Mhone, Amos L.
Odaba, Josiah
Svitek, Nicholas
author_facet Makumi, Angela
Mhone, Amos L.
Odaba, Josiah
Guantai, Linda
Svitek, Nicholas
author_sort Makumi, Angela
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description One of the world’s fastest-growing human populations is in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), accounting for more than 950 million people, which is approximately 13% of the global population. Livestock farming is vital to SSA as a source of food supply, employment, and income. With this population increase, meeting this demand and the choice for a greater income and dietary options come at a cost and lead to the spread of zoonotic diseases to humans. To control these diseases, farmers have opted to rely heavily on antibiotics more often to prevent disease than for treatment. The constant use of antibiotics causes a selective pressure to build resistant bacteria resulting in the emergence and spread of multi-drug resistant (MDR) organisms in the environment. This necessitates the use of alternatives such as bacteriophages in curbing zoonotic pathogens. This review covers the underlying problems of antibiotic use and resistance associated with livestock farming in SSA, bacteriophages as a suitable alternative, what attributes contribute to making bacteriophages potentially valuable for SSA and recent research on bacteriophages in Africa. Furthermore, other topics discussed include the creation of phage biobanks and the challenges facing this kind of advancement, and the regulatory aspects of phage development in SSA with a focus on Kenya.
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spelling CGSpace1152382025-08-15T13:21:28Z Phages for Africa: The potential benefit and challenges of phage therapy for the livestock sector in sub-Saharan Africa Makumi, Angela Mhone, Amos L. Odaba, Josiah Guantai, Linda Svitek, Nicholas phages livestock antimicrobial resistance infectious diseases biochemistry microbiology One of the world’s fastest-growing human populations is in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), accounting for more than 950 million people, which is approximately 13% of the global population. Livestock farming is vital to SSA as a source of food supply, employment, and income. With this population increase, meeting this demand and the choice for a greater income and dietary options come at a cost and lead to the spread of zoonotic diseases to humans. To control these diseases, farmers have opted to rely heavily on antibiotics more often to prevent disease than for treatment. The constant use of antibiotics causes a selective pressure to build resistant bacteria resulting in the emergence and spread of multi-drug resistant (MDR) organisms in the environment. This necessitates the use of alternatives such as bacteriophages in curbing zoonotic pathogens. This review covers the underlying problems of antibiotic use and resistance associated with livestock farming in SSA, bacteriophages as a suitable alternative, what attributes contribute to making bacteriophages potentially valuable for SSA and recent research on bacteriophages in Africa. Furthermore, other topics discussed include the creation of phage biobanks and the challenges facing this kind of advancement, and the regulatory aspects of phage development in SSA with a focus on Kenya. 2021-09-08 2021-09-29T10:05:57Z 2021-09-29T10:05:57Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/115238 en Open Access MDPI Makumi, A., Mhone, A.L., Odaba, J., Guantai, L. and Svitek, N. 2021. Phages for Africa: The potential benefit and challenges of phage therapy for the livestock sector in sub-Saharan Africa. Antibiotics 10(9): 1085.
spellingShingle phages
livestock
antimicrobial resistance
infectious diseases
biochemistry
microbiology
Makumi, Angela
Mhone, Amos L.
Odaba, Josiah
Guantai, Linda
Svitek, Nicholas
Phages for Africa: The potential benefit and challenges of phage therapy for the livestock sector in sub-Saharan Africa
title Phages for Africa: The potential benefit and challenges of phage therapy for the livestock sector in sub-Saharan Africa
title_full Phages for Africa: The potential benefit and challenges of phage therapy for the livestock sector in sub-Saharan Africa
title_fullStr Phages for Africa: The potential benefit and challenges of phage therapy for the livestock sector in sub-Saharan Africa
title_full_unstemmed Phages for Africa: The potential benefit and challenges of phage therapy for the livestock sector in sub-Saharan Africa
title_short Phages for Africa: The potential benefit and challenges of phage therapy for the livestock sector in sub-Saharan Africa
title_sort phages for africa the potential benefit and challenges of phage therapy for the livestock sector in sub saharan africa
topic phages
livestock
antimicrobial resistance
infectious diseases
biochemistry
microbiology
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/115238
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