International Livestock Research Institute

University of Liverpool

University of Nairobi

World Animal Protection

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SUMMARY PAPERFood safety, antimicrobial use,and animal welfare in the Nairobipork value chainResearchthemes andstudy partnersHow wasthe studyconducted?The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), University of Liverpool, University of Nairobi, and World Animal Protection col-laborated to study the following themes along the pig value chain in Nairobi: animal welfare, food safety, antimicrobial residues and zoonotic diseases. Ndumbu-ini slaughterhouse, one of the largest independent abat-toirs supplying Nairobi and its environments, was chosen as a study site. The abattoir was visited between 5th January and 4th March 2021 to collect blood and tissue samples from pigs slaughtered during this period. The team collected information on the pigs’ origin, method of transportation and observational data on gross lesions present on the animal and in the carcass. The samples were taken for laborato-ry analysis at the ILRI and the University of Nairobi. AnimalWelfareWhat did we find? Animal welfare is defined by the World Organization of Animal Health (OIE) as the physical and mental state of an animal in rela-tion to the conditions in which it lives and dies. Just like humans, animals can suffer and feel pain, and do have five freedoms which include:Freedom from hunger and thirst Freedom from discomfort Freedom from pain, injury, and disease Freedom to express natural behaviour Freedom from fear and distress Animals must have access to fresh water and wholesome diet for the animals age and physiological status.Provide animals with good housing that protects them from elements of weather and any discomfort. When animals are sick undertake a rapid diagnosis and treatment as well prevent and control diseases.Provide sufficient space, proper facilities, and company of the animals’ kind.Minimize conditions and treatment that lead to stress and mental suffering. Animal welfare freedom *FARMS – Farm Animal Responsible Minimum Standards guidelines on how farm animals are raised, transported, and slaughtered Minimum requirements(based on FARMS* guidelines)3Pigs comfortably resting on straw beddingsAnimal Welfare Observations During the Study Period• Pigs strapped onto motorbikes • Overloading of pigs in the transport vessel • Mixing of pigs from different farms in one vehicle• Pigs kept for more than 24hours in the lairage• Overcrowding and strapping pigs onto motorbikes causes injuries, such as lacerations, bruises and fractures. These types of injuries lead to down grading of the meat, which translates to reduced income/profit to the farmer or trader. • Pigs should not be kept for more than 18 hours without food and water. Keeping animals for a longer time than that leads to the animal utilizing its energy reserves to sus-tain normal body functions causing weight loss hence re-duced meat to sell. • Meat obtained from a stressed pig tends to lose excess water as compared to non-stressed pigs. This meat weighs less leading to less income/profit. 4Animal welfare concern during transport: Why does this matter?@Katie Hamilton, ZED GroupA pig inhumanely strapped on a motorbike during transportationMost live pigs were painfully marked on the ears with sharp objects such as nails for purposes of identification at the lairage and after slaughter.This process causes intense pain, causing physical injury and sub-sequent fear to the pigs. The identification lacerations (cuts) create avenues for entry of pathogens such as bacteria. Nevertheless, this is a key source of stress to the animal and as the animal fights back it becomes difficult to handle it. We recommend finding alternative non-invasive methods of marking pigs such as with paint or markers. 5What can we do to improve?Why does this matter?Animal welfare concern during identification of live pigs @Nicholas Bor, ILRIA pig painfully marked on the ear using sharp object for identification.• The electrodes of the stunning device were dirty, old, and cor-roded. • The stunning current was 0.3A, which is below the recom-mended current of 1.3A.• Nearly all pigs were incorrectly restrained and stunned e.g., some were stunned as they moved• Pigs should be properly restrained before stunning. • The stunning device should be well positioned on the neck at the base of the ears. • Stunning should be done with a clean and well-maintained stun-ning device with a current of 1.3A. • The electrodes on the stunning gun have to be cleaned daily for effective transmission of current.• Pigs that are not effectively stunned will be seen kicking, blink-ing, heavy breathing, and making sounds, and that must be al-ways avoided. This is not only painful to the pig but also risks injury to the slaughter workers.• Stunning is purposed to render the animal unconscious be-fore slitting the neck. • Improperly stunned animals end up being bled when still alive, able to feel pain and struggle. As the animal is still conscious and normally breathing, it inhales blood from the cut site (throat region) into the lungs. This scenario lowers the meat quality, gives a poor aesthetic appearance and short-ens the shelf life of the meat. • Proper restraining of pigs during stunning process ensures the rods are placed on the right site and also prevents electric shock to humans. 6Why does this matter?What can we do to improve?Animal welfare concern during stunningThe right electrode position for pigsElectrode position observed@HSI@Nicholas Bor, ILRIAntimicrobial residues Antimicrobials are drugs that are used to treat a wide range of mi-crobes such as bacterial (antibiotics), helminths (anthelminthics), vi-ruses (antivirals), fungi (antifungals), and parasites (antiparasitics).  In farms, antimicrobials are used to treat and prevent infections in food and non-food animals. Food animals which are under treat-ment with antimicrobials should not be slaughtered nor their products consumed (by humans or other animals) before the recommended drug withdrawal period is over. This is because before the withdraw-al period is over, traces of antimicrobials can still be found in the carcass, or other animal products (such as milk, eggs etc.) and sub-sequently passed to humans if consumed. A considerable number of pigs slaughtered at the abattoir had anti-microbial residues in meat.As a farmer you need to treat animals only when sick which should be done by a registered animal health practitioner. Do not self-pre-scribe drugs or give drugs to animals when not sick.As a trader/buyer, ensure you get the treatment history of the pigs before you buy. Only buy pigs who are not under treatment and where you know that the correct drug withdrawal period has passed since the last treatment. Consuming meat with antimicrobial residues, can result in tox-icity, potential allergic reactions and chronic health impacts in humans. It also means exposing consumers to small quantities of that drug, which are not able to kill or stop growth of pathogens such as bacteria. This gives the bacteria an opportunity to de-velop resistance to the drug (Antimicrobial Resistance - AMR). Globally, scientists have estimated that 700,000 people die every year due to AMR and this is projected to reach 10 mil-lion annual deaths by the year 2050. This results to high cost of treatment, severe illnesses, and reduced treatment options. Additionally, low and middle income countries are projected to be affected adversely. 7FindingsWhy does this matter?What can be done?Zoonotic Infections: Toxoplasmosis Toxoplasmosis is a zoonotic disease (a diseases transmitted from animals to humans and vice versa)  caused by a parasite called Toxoplasma gondii. The parasite is passed to humans and animals (such as pigs) when an infected cat defecates on the environment. Food animals (sheep, goats, cattle, pigs) are infected when they pick/acquire these eggs during feeding, for example when grazing or the feed is contaminated.Humans can become infected by eating raw or undercooked meat from these animals, or by eating unwashed fruits and vegetables contaminated by the parasite eggs. Particularly, pregnant women are at high risk as infection can cause abortion and may also lead to developmental problems of the foetus. Workers in slaughterhouses can be exposed to the parasite through contact or ingestion of raw meat or blood from infected animals. Infection with T. gondii has the greatest impact on those with low im-munity (such as the very young/elderly, HIV/AIDs patients, cancer patients). Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan parasite that infects most species of warm-blooded animals, including humans, and causes the disease toxo-plasmosis.Source: CDC            https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/toxoplasmosis/biology.html ).8Causal Agent:Life cycle of ToxoplasmosisMany practises were observed in the slaughterhouse which could expose workers to infection with the parasite causing Toxoplasmosis and other zoonotic infections. Some of these practises were: • Insufficient washing of hands • Insufficient washing of slaughterhouse working tools• Slaughterhouse workers eating food inside and within the slaughterhouse facility• Slaughterhouse workers with inadequate personal protec-tive equipment e.g., gloves, worn out lab coats/overalls. • We should limit direct contact with raw meat by properly wear-ing protective equipment such as gumboots, overalls, gloves, head covers, and masks. • We should wash our hands before and after handling meat • We should frequently wash our working tools (knives and chop-ping boards) between carcasses and preferably using hot run-ning water• Never eat within the slaughterhouse facility where raw meat is handled. 9FindingsHow can we keep ourselves safe? The only known definitive hosts for Toxoplasma gondii are members of family Felidae (domestic cats and their relatives).1.  Unsporulated oocysts are shed in the cat’s feces.2.  Although oocysts are usually only shed for 1–3 weeks, large numbers may be shed. Oocysts take 1–5 days to sporulate in the environment and become infective. Intermediate hosts in nature (in-cluding birds and rodents) become infected after ingesting soil, water or plant material contaminat-ed with oocysts.3.  Oocysts transform into tachyzoites shortly after ingestion. These tachyzoites localize in neural and muscle tissue and develop into tissue cyst bradyzoites.4.  Cats become infected after consuming intermedi-ate hosts harboring tissue cysts.5.  Cats may also become infected directly by inges-tion of sporulated oocysts. Animals bred for human consumption and wild game may also become in-fected with tissue cysts after ingestion of sporulated oocysts in the environment.Humans can become infected by any of several routes:6.  Eating undercooked meat of animals harboring tissue cysts .7.  Consuming food or water contaminated with cat fe-ces or by contaminated environmental samples (such as fecal-contaminated soil or changing the litter box of a pet cat).8.  Blood transfusion or organ transplantation.9.  Transplacentally from mother to fetus.10. In the human host, the parasites form tissue cysts, most commonly in skeletal muscle, myocardium, brain, and eyes; these cysts may remain throughout the life of the host. Diagnosis is usually achieved by serology, although tissue cysts may be observed in stained bi-opsy specimens11. Diagnosis of congenital infections can be achieved by detecting T. gondii DNA in amniotic fluid using molec-ular methods such as PCR  .10The field work for this study was supported by; the University of Liv-erpool – Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support Fund, the University of Liverpool Early Career Research Fund, The Soulsby Foundation, World Animal Protection, the German Federal Minis-try for Economic Cooperation and Development through the One Health Research, Education and Outreach Centre in Africa. And the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH), led by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). We also acknowledge the CGIAR Fund DonorsAcknowledgementsPigs expressing their natural behavior by rootingWorld Animal ProtectionWestside Tower, 9th Floor, Suite 901Lower Kabete Road, Westlands,Off Brookside RoundaboutP. O. Box 66580 - 00800Nairobi, KenyaT: +254 20 217 6598+254 72 715 3574africaenquiries@worldanimalprotection.orgwww.worldanimalprotection.or.keMoveTheWorldAF World Animal Protection AfricaWorld_Animal_Protection_AfricaILRI KenyaNaivasha RoadPO Box 30709Nairobi 00100, Kenya+254 20 422 3000+254 20 422 3001ILRI-Kenya@cgiar.org   |  www.ilri.org

Food safety, antimicrobial use, and animal welfare in the Nairobi pork value chain

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Food safety, antimicrobial use, and animal welfare in the Nairobi pork value chain

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