Prevalence of Aflatoxins B1 in livestock feeds and its awareness among selected small and medium scale farmers in Zambia

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is a poisonous and carcinogenic fungal by-product produced by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus species, causing acute and chronic toxicity in humans and animals. The global concern surrounding AFB1 arises from its adverse effects on public health, the economy, and social well-being. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of AFB1 in feeds and its awareness among small and medium scale livestock farmers. Livestock feed samples were randomly collected and analyzed in the laboratory for fungi known to produce aflatoxins using selective media. The positive samples were subjected to QSight LX50 UHPLC coupled with QSight 220 triple quadrupole Mass Spectrometer analysis to confirm presence of AFB1 and determine the quantity of the levels of AFB1. The questionnaire was employed to assess cognizance of aflatoxin among livestock farmers. On average every 27 out of 100 collected samples were found to be contaminated with aflatoxins. Poultry feeds had the highest contamination followed by feeds for other species. Further analysis revealed a significant association between storage and aflatoxins contaminations (X2= 10.65; p-value= 0.03). The contamination ranged from 6.5 to70.2ng g-1 of AFB. The study also revealed a varied levels of awareness on AFB1 between small and medium scale farmers with medium scale farmers having a relatively higher awareness on the effect of AFB1 than small scale farmers. The presence of AFB1 shows that it is necessary to implement mitigation measures that focus on reducing the incidence of aflatoxin contamination, and improvement of AFB1 awareness in small and medium scale livestock farmers.