**3.2. Impact of mycotoxins on food security in Africa**

and health care (morbidity), cost of anxiety, pain, misdiagnosis, suffering and reduced life quality etc.] could be enormous, and demanding on national budget. A case in point, a study conducted in Gambia observed that diseases consistent with mycotoxin exposure (in particular Hepatitis B and its associated medical complications) results in a total monetized DALY worth over 94 million US\$ of GDP, which equals 9.4% of the nation's GDP. This is a huge loss to the health of the populace and country [67]. Similarly, in Senegal, the cumulative cost in terms of health due to AFs is estimated at no less than 92 million US\$ of the nation's GDP [67]. In 2014 in Tanzania, the economic impact (in monetary terms) of AFs was estimated between

**Mycotoxins Toxic effects Reference**

[51]

[57, 58]

Ergot alkaloids Ergotism: central nervous system disorder, gastrointestinal symptoms, &

FBs Carcinogenic, nephrotoxic, hepatotoxic, immunosuppressive, atherogenic,

**Table 1.** Mycotoxins and their toxic effects on human health (adapted from Capriotti *et al*.) [51].

DON Immunosuppressive, immunostimulative, & causes fertility problems [59–62] ZEAs Infertility, reduced milk production, vaginal secretions, & vaginitis [63, 64] T2-toxin Cardiovascular defects, gastroenteritis, & alimentary toxic aleukia [65, 66]

Citrinin Hepatonephrotoxic [51] Cyclopiazonic acid Weight loss, diarrhoea, nausea, necrosis, & convulsion [51] Patulin Genotoxic, teratogenic, carcinogenic, & acute toxicity to kidney [51] Sterigmatocystin Carcinogenic, & hepatotoxic [51] Rubratoxin Liver damage, nephrotoxic, & haemorrhage [51] Gliotoxin Neurological syndrome, & immunosuppressive [51] Moniliformin Acutely toxic, & cardiac impairment [51] Fumitremorgen Tremors, & convulsion [51] AFs Carcinogenic, & immunosuppressive [52] OTs Mutagenic, carcinogenic, & nephrotoxic [53–56]

gangrene

8 Mycotoxins - Impact and Management Strategies

& embryotoxic

Very little work has been done on the health impact of mycotoxins on animals in Africa. This is understandable as the health effects and losses in animals (such as feeding efficiency, infertility, meat, milk and egg quality losses, susceptibility to diseases etc.) are subtler to decipher. Moreover, in Africa, people have limited resources and may prioritize the care of humans above the 'waste of resources' on animals. To this effect, when mouldy cereals are too bad to be consumed, they are usually not disposed, but blended with non-mouldy ones and used as animal feed, or in some cases fed directly to the animals. However, monogastric farm animals such as poultry, swine and dogs are at particular high risk, because their basal diet (feed) is made up of cereals [68]. These animals also lack reservoir that harbours microorganisms that can break down secondary metabolites of fungi before they are absorbed into the intestine. In South Africa, there have been two episodes of aflatoxicosis (illness resulting from AFs)

6 million and 264 million US\$ due to the resultant health impact [33].

*3.1.2. Impact of mycotoxins on animal health in Africa*

The CTA has clearly alarmed that mycotoxins significantly threatens achieving food security and safety in Africa, which is one of the UN's sustainable development goals [5]. Food supplies are limited and often of poor quality, with mycotoxins proliferation frequently implicated as the culprit. About 35% of global food and feed produce is contaminated by mycotoxins. The attendant food losses/wastages is in the ranks of 1 billion metric tons annually [73–75], and there is little doubt that majority of these losses come from Africa. In a continent where about 60% of the populace are farmers (mainly at a subsistence level), and majority of households relay on their homegrown food for survival, these statistics on mycotoxins are disturbing. The eminent reality of global warming further complicates the situation as Africa is the continent that is most affected due to its position at the equator. A recent study predicts that fungal pathogens and pests are proliferating at a rate of 5–6 km annually from the equator to polar regions of the earth [76]. Drought and plant stress makes crops more susceptible to diseases and fungal attack, and consequently increases mycotoxin contamination, which reduces crop quality and yield, as well as decreases in livestock productivity, disease tolerance and fertility. Moreover, adaptation of known mycotoxigenic fungal species to climate change conditions could result in a more aggressive and invasive behaviour of the fungi leading to colonization of new territories, increased production of mycotoxins, and perhaps the potential of producing entirely new mycotoxins, which poses a significant threat to food security, safety and health in Africa and other developing countries [76–78].
