Multi-mycotoxin occurrence and their risk to poultry health in semi-intensive broiler farms in Kenya

Scarcity of feed ingredients, unregulated feed mills, and limited monitoring of mycotoxin levels in feed increase the risk of mycotoxin exposure for poultry in sub-Saharan Africa. This study examined mycotoxins in feed from 122 Kenyan broiler farms and an association between on-farm feed handling pr...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Njaramba, Jane K., Muloi, Dishon M., Velde, M.V., Saeger, S.D., Ibayi, Eugine L., Moodley, Arshnee, Antonissen, G.
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Elsevier 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/173536
_version_ 1855535968333856768
author Njaramba, Jane K.
Muloi, Dishon M.
Velde, M.V.
Saeger, S.D.
Ibayi, Eugine L.
Moodley, Arshnee
Antonissen, G.
author_browse Antonissen, G.
Ibayi, Eugine L.
Moodley, Arshnee
Muloi, Dishon M.
Njaramba, Jane K.
Saeger, S.D.
Velde, M.V.
author_facet Njaramba, Jane K.
Muloi, Dishon M.
Velde, M.V.
Saeger, S.D.
Ibayi, Eugine L.
Moodley, Arshnee
Antonissen, G.
author_sort Njaramba, Jane K.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Scarcity of feed ingredients, unregulated feed mills, and limited monitoring of mycotoxin levels in feed increase the risk of mycotoxin exposure for poultry in sub-Saharan Africa. This study examined mycotoxins in feed from 122 Kenyan broiler farms and an association between on-farm feed handling practices and mycotoxin levels. Using a validated multi-mycotoxin liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method (LC-MS/MS), all feed samples contained at least one mycotoxin and 93% (n=113) had >3 mycotoxins. The most prevalent EU-regulated mycotoxins detected were fumonisins (92.6%; 72.7 – 1285.3 μg/kg), deoxynivalenol (88%; 96.6 – 2131.2 μg/kg), aflatoxins (37%; 4.2 – 87.8 μg/kg), and ochratoxin A (4%; range 14.90 – 59.20 μg/kg). Deoxynivalenol, fumonisins, and zearalenone frequently co-occurred in the feed samples. Among the surveyed farms, 33% (n= 40) were at risk of subclinical exposure to deoxynivalenol, while 14% and 7% faced similar risks from total aflatoxins and fumonisins, respectively. Univariate analysis found no significant associations between farm-specific feed handling practices and mycotoxin levels in feed. This study found a high co-occurrence of mycotoxin at low to moderate concentrations in compound broiler feed from the selected farms. While these levels pose a potential risk, no direct link to broiler health outcomes was found. Our findings highlight the need for further research to explore the effects of subclinical mycotoxin exposure on broilers and to develop context-specific mycotoxin level guidelines for the region.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace173536
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2025
publishDateRange 2025
publishDateSort 2025
publisher Elsevier
publisherStr Elsevier
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace1735362025-12-08T10:06:44Z Multi-mycotoxin occurrence and their risk to poultry health in semi-intensive broiler farms in Kenya Njaramba, Jane K. Muloi, Dishon M. Velde, M.V. Saeger, S.D. Ibayi, Eugine L. Moodley, Arshnee Antonissen, G. aflatoxins animal health poultry Scarcity of feed ingredients, unregulated feed mills, and limited monitoring of mycotoxin levels in feed increase the risk of mycotoxin exposure for poultry in sub-Saharan Africa. This study examined mycotoxins in feed from 122 Kenyan broiler farms and an association between on-farm feed handling practices and mycotoxin levels. Using a validated multi-mycotoxin liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method (LC-MS/MS), all feed samples contained at least one mycotoxin and 93% (n=113) had >3 mycotoxins. The most prevalent EU-regulated mycotoxins detected were fumonisins (92.6%; 72.7 – 1285.3 μg/kg), deoxynivalenol (88%; 96.6 – 2131.2 μg/kg), aflatoxins (37%; 4.2 – 87.8 μg/kg), and ochratoxin A (4%; range 14.90 – 59.20 μg/kg). Deoxynivalenol, fumonisins, and zearalenone frequently co-occurred in the feed samples. Among the surveyed farms, 33% (n= 40) were at risk of subclinical exposure to deoxynivalenol, while 14% and 7% faced similar risks from total aflatoxins and fumonisins, respectively. Univariate analysis found no significant associations between farm-specific feed handling practices and mycotoxin levels in feed. This study found a high co-occurrence of mycotoxin at low to moderate concentrations in compound broiler feed from the selected farms. While these levels pose a potential risk, no direct link to broiler health outcomes was found. Our findings highlight the need for further research to explore the effects of subclinical mycotoxin exposure on broilers and to develop context-specific mycotoxin level guidelines for the region. 2025-05 2025-03-10T11:16:01Z 2025-03-10T11:16:01Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/173536 en Open Access Elsevier Njaramba, J.K., Muloi, D.M., Velde, M.V., Saeger, S.D., Ibayi, E.L., Moodley, A. and Antonissen, G. 2025. Multi-mycotoxin occurrence and their risk to poultry health in semi-intensive broiler farms in Kenya. Poultry Science 104(5): 105008.
spellingShingle aflatoxins
animal health
poultry
Njaramba, Jane K.
Muloi, Dishon M.
Velde, M.V.
Saeger, S.D.
Ibayi, Eugine L.
Moodley, Arshnee
Antonissen, G.
Multi-mycotoxin occurrence and their risk to poultry health in semi-intensive broiler farms in Kenya
title Multi-mycotoxin occurrence and their risk to poultry health in semi-intensive broiler farms in Kenya
title_full Multi-mycotoxin occurrence and their risk to poultry health in semi-intensive broiler farms in Kenya
title_fullStr Multi-mycotoxin occurrence and their risk to poultry health in semi-intensive broiler farms in Kenya
title_full_unstemmed Multi-mycotoxin occurrence and their risk to poultry health in semi-intensive broiler farms in Kenya
title_short Multi-mycotoxin occurrence and their risk to poultry health in semi-intensive broiler farms in Kenya
title_sort multi mycotoxin occurrence and their risk to poultry health in semi intensive broiler farms in kenya
topic aflatoxins
animal health
poultry
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/173536
work_keys_str_mv AT njarambajanek multimycotoxinoccurrenceandtheirrisktopoultryhealthinsemiintensivebroilerfarmsinkenya
AT muloidishonm multimycotoxinoccurrenceandtheirrisktopoultryhealthinsemiintensivebroilerfarmsinkenya
AT veldemv multimycotoxinoccurrenceandtheirrisktopoultryhealthinsemiintensivebroilerfarmsinkenya
AT saegersd multimycotoxinoccurrenceandtheirrisktopoultryhealthinsemiintensivebroilerfarmsinkenya
AT ibayieuginel multimycotoxinoccurrenceandtheirrisktopoultryhealthinsemiintensivebroilerfarmsinkenya
AT moodleyarshnee multimycotoxinoccurrenceandtheirrisktopoultryhealthinsemiintensivebroilerfarmsinkenya
AT antonisseng multimycotoxinoccurrenceandtheirrisktopoultryhealthinsemiintensivebroilerfarmsinkenya