Evaluation du risque sanitaire lié à la consommation du poulet et des oeufs issus de l’aviculture des régions du Centre, Littoral et Ouest Cameroun

Abstract

Chicken and eggs from breeding can be contaminated by chemical contaminants such as residues of veterinary drugs, mycotoxins and trace elements known as having adverse effects on human health. Knowledge of exposure levels for consumers to these contaminants would be used to take measures to protect the consumers and promote good practices in modern poultry farming. The general objective of this work was to assess the level of exposition of the consumers of chicken and eggs from the main production regions. As a result, a survey and a screening of antibiotic residues were carried out in order to assess the sanitary risk linked to the consumption of chicken and eggs from poultry farming in the regions of the Centre, Littoral and West Cameroon. Therefore, two surveys were carried out: one on 90 poultry farms on farming practices and biosecurity measures and the other with 900 households on the consumption of chicken and eggs. Fifteen (15) kilograms of feed, 48 broilers and 180 laying eggs were collected from poultry farms and pretreated. The composite samples (feed, muscle, liver, gizzard and eggs) were screened for antimicrobial residues and assayed for total aflatoxins (AFT), aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and ochratoxin A (OTA) by immunogical methods, and the quantification of heavy metals (lead, nickel, arsenic, zinc, copper, cadmium, chromium and mercury) by inductive coupled plasma spectrometry (ICP- OES). The data from consumer survey were crossed with those from the dosage of mycotoxins and heavy metals in order to assess the health risk with indicators: food exposure, margin of exposure, risk index and noncarcinogenic and carcinogenic risks. Results show that farming practices and biosecurity measures are not well implemented in study areas. Feed samples from the Centre region were not complied with the standard (10μg/kg) authorized by the FAO/WHO and the European Union Commission in poultry feed for AFB1. The gizzards from the Centre and Littoral regions showed AFB1 levels above 2 μg/kg, which is the authorized limit for AFB1 in food. The daily dietary exposure (DDE) to AFB1 is significant due to the margins of exposure below 10000. For heavy metals, the values are mostly below the maximum limits recommended. The DDE to metals is greater for children and adolescents in the three regions for whom the values of the health risk index and of the incremental risk of lifetime cancer are higher than the recommended values (1 and 10-4respectively). The results of this study suggest the presence of a real health risk related to the consumption of chicken and eggs from poultry farming in the Centre, Littoral and West regions of Cameroon.