One of the world’s fastest-growing human populations is in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), accounting for more than 950 million people, which is approximately 13% of the global population. Livestock farming is vital to SSA as a source of food supply, employment, and income. With this population increase, meeting this demand and the choice for a greater income and dietary options come at a cost and lead to the spread of zoonotic diseases to humans. To control these diseases, farmers have opted to rely heavily on antibiotics more often to prevent disease than for treatment. The constant use of antibiotics causes a selective pressure to build resistant bacteria resulting in the emergence and spread of multi-drug resistant (MDR) organisms in the environment. This necessitates the use of alternatives such as bacteriophages in curbing zoonotic pathogens. This review covers the underlying problems of antibiotic use and resistance associated with livestock farming in SSA, bacteriophages as a suitable alternative, what attributes contribute to making bacteriophages potentially valuable for SSA and recent research on bacteriophages in Africa. Furthermore, other topics discussed include the creation of phage biobanks and the challenges facing this kind of advancement, and the regulatory aspects of phage development in SSA with a focus on Kenya.

Multi-drug resistant (MDR) Salmonella enterica Enteritidis is one of the major causes of foodborne illnesses worldwide. This non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) serovar is mainly transmitted to humans through poultry products. Bacteriophages (phages) offer an alternative to antibiotics for reducing the incidence of MDR NTS in poultry farms. Phages that survive the harsh environment of the chicken gastrointestinal tract (cGIT), which have low pH, high temperatures, and several enzymes, may have a higher therapeutic or prophylactic potential. In this study, we analysed the stability of 10 different S. Enteritidis phages isolated from Kenyan poultry farms in different pH-adjusted media, incubation temperatures, as well as simulated gastric and intestinal fluids (SGF and SIF, respectively). Furthermore, their ability to persist in water sources available in Kenya, including river, borehole, rain and tap water, was assessed. All phages were relatively stable for 12 h at pHs ranging from 5 to 9 and at temperatures ranging from 25 °C to 42 °C. At pH 3, a loss in viral titre of up to three logs was observed after 3 h of incubation. In SGF, phages were stable for 20 min, after which they started losing infectivity. Phages were relatively stable in SIF for up to 2 h. The efficacy of phages to control Salmonella growth was highly reduced in pH 2- and pH 3-adjusted media and in SGF at pH 2.5, but less affected in SIF at pH 8. River water had the most significant detrimental effect on phages, while the other tested waters had a limited impact on the phages. Our data suggest that these phages may be administered to chickens through drinking water and may survive cGIT to prevent salmonellosis in poultry.

Women and men keeping chickens in Kenya aspire to have a source of income, feed their families healthy food, and grow their businesses. Managing animal diseases and minimizing input costs enable their success. This study uses qualitative methods to recommend design opportunities for a veterinary product under development in Kenya that contains bacteriophages (phages) that target pathogenic Salmonella strains responsible for fowl typhoid, salmonellosis, and pullorum in chickens and foodborne illness in people. Our findings revealed the interplay between gender and two production systems: free-range and semi-intensive. Chicken keepers in both systems could benefit from phages combined with the orally administered Newcastle disease vaccine, one of the most commonly used preventive veterinary interventions, or phages as a treatment for fowl typhoid. Oral administration is less labor intensive, with greater benefits for women who have less control over family labor and reported doing more care tasks themselves. Men in free-range systems usually pay for veterinary inputs. In semi-intensive production systems, a phage-based product used prophylactically could be an alternative to expensive, intramuscular fowl typhoid vaccines. Keeping layers was common for women in semi-intensive systems, as they are more economically impacted by reduced laying caused by bacterial diseases. Awareness of zoonoses was low, but men and women were concerned about the negative health effects of drug residues in meat and eggs. Therefore, highlighting the lack of a withdrawal period for a phage product may appeal to customers. Antibiotics are used to both treat and prevent diseases, and phage products will need to do both to compete in the Kenyan market. These findings guide the ongoing design of a phage-based product with the goal of introducing a new veterinary product that meets the diverse needs of chicken keepers in Africa and serves as an alternative or complement to antibiotics.