Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the socio-economic impacts of AIDS on families caring for AIDS-orphaned children in Mbeya rural district, Tanzania. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative inquiry employing one-on-one in-depth interviews was conducted in 2015. Purposive sampling technique was used to recruit participants (n=24) comprising 20 heads of families caring for AIDS-orphaned children, two local government staff and two staff from Isangati Agricultural Development Organisation – a non-government organisation. Qualitative data were analysed using thematic and framework approach. Findings Results demonstrated that families caring for AIDS-orphaned children experienced severe socio-economic impacts of the epidemic. Reduction in household savings, increase in living expenses on health care and increased education fees were the identified economic impacts on these families. Social impacts included labour shortage, withdrawal of children from school and increased demand for food. Social implications There is a need for urgent responses and for scaling up programmes delivered by organisations, institutions and the government of Tanzania to help families cope with these impacts. Originality/value This study provides evidence on socio-economic impacts of AIDS on families caring for AIDS-orphaned children in Tanzania. An understanding of these impacts can help governmental and non-governmental institutions and programme planners to address the problem in their policies and develop evidence-based strategies and interventions in responding to the problem in Mbeya and Tanzania. Moreover, responses to reducing the impacts of AIDS on families require a holistic approach that encourages the involvement of all sectors and agents outside of the health sector.

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Aflatoxin B 1 (AFB 1 ), is a type I carcinogen that is one of the strongest naturally occurring aflatoxins and can be injurious to humans and livestock upon ingestion, inhalation, or skin contact, with carcinogenic and mutagenic effects. It causes significant hazardous effects to the food-and animal-production industries. We found a bacterial strain, 3J2MO, that degraded AFB 1 well, and here we tested and characterized its AFB 1 -degradation ability. The strain degraded about 93.82% of the AFB 1 after incubation for 48 h in Luria−Bertani (LB) medium at 37 °C with a final concentration of 100 ppb and an inoculation quantity of 1 × 10 7 cfu/mL. High-performance liquid chromatography−fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD) was used to determine AFB 1 amounts. The maximum degradation rates were 89.23% at pH 8.5; 55.78% at an inoculation quantity of 1 × 10 8 cfu/mL; and 71.50 and 71.21% at 34 and 37 °C, respectively. Treatment with sucrose and soluble starch as carbon sources and beef extract and ammonium acetate as nitrogen sources stimulated the degradation rate. Mg 2+ and Ca 2+ ions were activators for AFB 1 degradation; however, Mn 2+ , Fe 3+ , Zn 2+ , and Cu 2+ were strong inhibitors. This bacterial strain has potential in bioremediation and the detoxification of aflatoxin contamination for biocontrol strategies in both agricultural products and food-industry matrices.