The poultry waste dumpsites of Idi Ayunre and environs: Reservoirs and distributors of disease-causing antibiotic resistant pathogens

Further checks on what organisms antibiotics would eliminate in the event of an infection showed that six of eight commonly used antibiotics would not kill any of them. This is even of greater concern to the public as global antibiotic resistance is predicted to increase, a situation Dr. Ayansina Ayangbenro finds worrying.

“It is getting scary by the day to think that the world is moving closer to an era where no antimicrobial works again, the use of different antibiotics in large scale by this industry across the world for prophylactic, therapeutic and growth promotion is a major source of environmental and public health concern.” the environmental microbiologist said.

That the farms dump this waste unabashed despite its potential ripple effect on the community- both human and environment- is a cause for concern due to their potential to create several hotspots for antibiotic resistance (AMR) transfer and its attendant effects, says Dr. Yinka Somorin, a food microbiologist and Research Fellow at the School of Pharmacy, Queen's University Belfast.

“These practices are risky and could represent a transmission route for antimicrobial resistance across the food chain,” he started. “Firstly, multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens could be transmitted directly to poultry workers and farmers handling the wastes and cause infections which will be difficult to treat. Also, MDR pathogens could leach into drinking and recreational water systems in the community thus becoming a source of contamination to the wider population in the community.”

A community that ‘benefits’ but silently complains

Idi Ayunre locals glow when discussing the poultry revolution in their community: the jobs, vibrant transportation, and several other avenues stemming from poultry and its wastes to make ends meet. One of such is the packaging and transportation of the waste to other areas of the State and indeed, other States, for use in cropping and fish supplement. Both practices were confirmed by locals, while a worker who earns additional income by bagging and loading the waste onto vehicles for transport detailed his role.

“When the trailers come, we help them package the waste into sacks and they transport some to Akinyele and other areas where they are used on maize and pepper farms. They also take it to other places where they use the waste for other purposes that I do not know,” he explained.

Another source of local Internally Generated Revenue is the collection and re-use of poultry waste sacks used in dumping the wastes and according to a local guide, there is commotion whenever a poultry farm’s truck pulls up to dump its waste.

“There is serious commotion whenever they come. The children and women will run after the truck into the dump sites to get the large and better sacks. They re-wash the sacks and use to package crop produce they intend to sell on market days,” the local guide explained.

This practice, Dr. Somorin said should be discontinued and in a situation where that is not possible, education on proper disinfection and re-use should be pursued.

“Using such sacks to bag food items for sale could contaminate the foods with multi-drug resistant bacteria. Re-use of sacks used to transport poultry waste should be discouraged or when that is impossible, decontamination or disinfection of sacks must be done to remove any possible pathogen present.”

While no local government official or poultry farm was keen to broach, discussion with some locals about some of the findings resulted in mood changes as the hard truths set in after a few minutes. According to a youth leader of one of such communities that has five dumpsites, there has previously been some tension between the community and poultries regarding location of their dump sites close to villages and its attendant air pollution.

“There was a time we complained about the smell and increasing presence at close proximity to the people and it was agreed that they [the farms] would burn the dump sites regularly, while also relocating most of their dumping activities deeper into the hinterlands of the community,” he said while giving location of some other dumpsites.

To combat this silent but widespread distribution of AMR pathogens and environmental pollution, our experts called on a joint effort at improving poultry management, waste treatment and adequate disposal or reuse.

Dr. Ayangbenro opined that everyone has a role to play, especially through prudent antibiotics use in livestock. Dr. Somorin further proposed implementation of appropriate composting to reduce environmental contamination and risks of transmitting MDR bacteria, while Dr. Olajuyigbe suggested the need for law enforcement of rules for proper treatment and disposal to forestall indiscriminate disposal of poultry and other animal waste products.

In her own submission, Dr. Aminat Badmos, a microbiology Lecturer at Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta added that good hygienic practices are key to eliminating AMR in foods.

“The presence of AMR microorganisms in our agricultural systems and food chains is a potential route of exposure for everyone. Good hygienic practices in farming are a vital way in achieving food safety, it is also key to addressing antimicrobial resistance.”