This document discusses how aflatoxin biocontrol plays an important role in achieving One Health. It summarizes that aflatoxins from crops negatively impact human, animal, and environmental health, increasing risks of liver cancer and diseases. The use of Aflasafe, which employs atoxigenic Aspergillus strains, can protect crops from aflatoxin contamination pre-harvest. This improves the health of people and animals through reduced dietary exposure to aflatoxins. Aflasafe also benefits environmental health by supporting a balanced population of non-toxigenic microbes in the environment. Its use presents a nature-based solution to achieving One Health by linking improved plant, human, and animal well-

1. Aflatoxin Biocontrol Plays an
Important Role in One-Health
Presented 16th Annual Conference and Workshop
of the Mycotoxicology Society of Nigeria (Ondo2023)
23 -26 October 2023
Titilayo Falade, Alejandro Ortega-Beltran, Adebowale Akande,
Samuel Aikore, Ranajit Bandyopadhyay

2. WHO Definition of One Health
“One Health is an integrated, unifying approach that aims to
sustainably balance and optimize the health of people, animals
and ecosystems.
It recognizes that the health of humans, domestic and wild
animals, plants, and the wider environment (including
ecosystems) are closely linked and interdependent.”

3. How aflatoxins impact One Health
Human
health
Dietary exposure to
aflatoxins, increases the risk
of liver cancers (5 to 28%),
reduces child growth, also
occurs via mother-to-child
transmission
Environmental
health
Microbes
Plants
High populations of toxigenic
strains in environment
increasing risk of aflatoxin
prevalence
Plants with aflatoxin
contamination, increase the
risk of dietary exposure to
aflatoxins
Animal
health
Dietary exposure
increases the risk of
liver, kidney toxicities,
reduced immunities,
mortalities, reduced
quality of spermatozoa
One
health

4. Acute aflatoxin exposure and its impact on human health
Madam Susan Mutungwa (widow) lost her husband, son and
grandson to aflatoxin contaminated maize. She too was poisoned by
her food and can hardly recover from this significant losses
Source NTV Kenya: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23JzdwQx4vY&t=47s
Scan the QR code for details

5. Chronic aflatoxin exposure and its impact on human health
The ranking for HBV in these countries is in the top 20 of the world:
Niger (8th), Mali (10th), and Burkina Faso (20th)
Source: WHO (2020)
From maize:
Mali: 6 to 69 ng/kg bw/day
Burkina Faso: 29 to 432, and
Niger: 310 to 2100 ng/kg bw/day
Chronic exposure exists in this region (estimated Probable Daily Intake (PDI)
From sorghum:
Mali: 2 to 133 ng/kg bw/day
Niger: 706 to 2221 ng/kg bw/day
Source: Falade et al., 2022
Estimated liver cancer cases/100,000 persons/year in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger is 9, 28,
and 126 respectively.
Scan the QR code for details

6. Aflatoxin biocontrol and One Health

7. Association of Aspergilli in environment with crops
• Both toxigenic and atoxigenic
strains of the A. flavus
naturally exist.
• Association with dominant
toxigenic strains results in pre-
harvest aflatoxin
contamination
• Association with dominant
non-toxigenic (atoxigenic)
strains protects the plant from
pre-harvest aflatoxin
contamination
• Aflasafe employs the use of
carefully selected atoxigenic
strains in biocontrol

8. Enabling association of atoxigenic Aspergilli - Aflasafe
Aflasafe comprises
naturally occurring,
carefully selected
atoxigenic strains.
It is easy to use and
effective
Scan the QR code to
visit www.aflasafe.com

9. Aflasafe factory in Nigeria managed by
Harvestfield Industries Limited
Plant health improvement with Aflasafe – data from > 10 years
Scan the QR code for
details

10. Implications in livestock – aflatoxins, Aflasafe
Scan the QR code for details

11. One health implications – aflatoxins, Aflasafe (cont’d).

12. Aflasafe as a nature-based solution in One Health
• Environmental Health: Supports a healthy balance
of populations of non-toxigenic strains in the
environment
• Environment Health: Plants can cope and are not
stressed. Plants are healthy and produce good
quality produce
• Human health: Dietary exposure of humans and
animals to safe produce enables sufficient ability
for plant care
• Environmental health: There is limited build-up of
pesticides in the environment and decreased
incidences of plant resistance
• Animal health: Reduced need for antimicrobials to
address aflatoxin-induced animal morbidities
• Human and Environmental health: Reduced
exposure of humans and plants to antimicrobials as
residues from compost or in diet from animal-
based products
Environmental
health
Human
health
Animal
health
One
health
Microbes
Plants
With aflatoxin biocontrol there is increased access to safe and wholesome foods in healthy plants and
environment reducing dietarty exposure of humans and animals to aflatoxins

13. Aflasafe stories by the users – farmers and buyers

14. He reported
reduction in the
mortality of birds
and the use of
antibiotics with the
use of grains treated
with Aflasafe
Stories
from
Nigeria
Voices of
farmers from
West Africa
They reported
improvement in grain
quality with the use of
Aflasafe for crop
production

15. Collaborators and Partners

16. For discussions and collaboration you can
reach me Titilayo Falade at
t.falade@cgiar.org
Scan the QR code for my
complimentary card