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Poultry production is important in Nigeria and other developing economies, mainly because it provides much-needed employment and is crucial for food security. The Nigerian broiler production system is relatively disorganized and its structures are relatively undefined due to a dearth of information. Broiler industry’s development depends on some factors including input–output systems, stable policies, focused development plans, competitive marketing, and cutting-edge technologies. To understand these factors, the industry’s policy review, field survey, and market analysis were carried out. Findings confirmed that policy was inconsistent and inadequate, prices of local products were higher than those of smuggled (illegal imports) comparative products and local producers were under pressure internally because the input–output system put additional stress on the system with attendant high risks of food safety and security. While the Nigerian broiler industry has tremendous potential for expansion, stakeholders’ engagement in policy formulation and implementation, a systematic national development plan, updates of redundant laws and regulations, and an overall improvement in biosecurity including the determination of critical control points are necessary. Similarly, cross-national and trans-border synergistic activities should be engaged by regulators, and it is important to engage comparative adaptive research to draw benefits from other developing countries with functional and developed broiler industries, which should benefit the Nigeria broiler industry.

Antimicrobials are used to maintain good health and productivity of food animals. Misuse of antibiotics in livestock contributes to development of antimicrobial resistance, an emerging One Health issue. This study assessed pastoralists' knowledge and practices regarding antimicrobial usage, explore pathways for resistant pathogens emergence and associated social drivers for antimicrobial misuse in pastoral herds of North-central Nigeria. An interview questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey was conducted in randomly selected pastoral households. Descriptive and analytical statistical analyses were performed at 95% confidence level. All the 384 pastoralists participated in the study. Majority (58%) of respondents had no formal education. Only 8.1% of respondents knew antibiotic misuse to be when given under-dose and 70.1% of them did not know what misuse entailed. About 58.3% reported self-prescription of antimicrobials used on animals, while 67% of them reported arbitrary applications for dosage determination. Most frequently used antimicrobials were tetracycline (96.6%), tylosin (95.6%) and penicillin (94.0%). Identified pathways for antimicrobial resistant pathogens spread to humans were through contaminated animal products; contaminated animals and fomites; and environmental wastes. Improper antimicrobial usage (p, Highlights • Only 8.1% pastoralists knew antimicrobials misuse to be when given under-dose. • About 58% pastoralists reported self prescription of antimicrobials used on animals. • Most frequently used antimicrobial was tetracycline (96.6%). • Nomadic culture influenced antimicrobials misuse in livestock. • ‘OneHealth’ approach is needed for efficient antimicrobial usage surveillance.

Dermatophilosis is a contagious disease of high economic importance. The study assessed knowledge/awareness and clinical burden of and mitigation measures practised against clinical bovine dermatophilosis in pastoral herds of North-Central Nigeria and associated socio-cultural factors that predisposed to its occurrence in herds. A cross-sectional survey was conducted between October 2015 and September 2016. Questionnaires were administered on pastoralists and clinical assessment of cattle with gross pathological lesions indicative of dermatophilosis conducted. Associated economic impact was estimated. All 384 selected pastoralists participated in the survey. The majorities of nomadic (97.4%) and sedentary (68.2%) pastoralists significantly (p

Meat is prone to contamination by pathogenic organisms during slaughter and processing due to unhygienic practices in Nigeria. In recent times, there has been an increase in the prevalence of antibiotic resistant foodborne pathogens due to increased drug misuse in livestock industry. We assessed the level of microbial contamination of fresh muscle tissues from cattle slaughtered in a major abattoir in Ibadan immediately after slaughter and also determined the antibiogram of Escherichia coli and Listeria spp isolates from the muscle tissues. These were done using standard plate and Bauer-Kirby disc diffusion techniques for bacteriological assay and antibiotic sensitivity testing, respectively. We found that the muscle tissues from the slaughtered cattle were highly contaminated, with the Total Aerobic (6.59±0.94 log cfu/g), coliform (6.43±0.67 log cfu/g) and Listeria (6.96±0.32 log cfu/g) counts being higher than the acceptable international standards. Isolated E. coli and Listeria spp demonstrated 100% resistance to all tested antibiotics. We thus recommend further studies to be carried out on the molecular characteristics of antibiotic resistant genes responsible for transferability of bacterial resistance among foodborne pathogens in Nigeria.

A bacteriological assay was done on meat tables in Ibadan municipal abattoir, Nigeria. Swab samples from 1 cm of the surface were obtained from meat tables before and after the sales of meat. The 2 swab samples were analyzed for Listeria sp Count (LSC), Listeria monocytogenes Count (LMC), Coliform Count (CC), Enterobacteriaceae Count (EC) and Salmonella sp Count (SSC). The mean values for LSC, EC and SSC were 8.20±0.06 log10CFU/cm , 8.81±0.05 log10CFU/cm and 7.32±0.20 log10CFU/cm respectively 2 2 2 for before sales while after meat sales was 10.47±0.05 log10CFU/cm (LSC), 11.47±0.03 log10CFU/cm (EC) 2 2 and 11.37±0.04 log10CFU/cm (SSC). The mean values for before and after meat sales of Coliform Count 2 (CC) were 8.35±0.07 log10CFU/cm and 10.86±0.05 log10CFU/cm respectively while Listeria monocytogenes 2 2 Count (LMC) for before and after meat sales were 7.59±0.06 log10CFU/cm and 9.78±0.07 log10CFU/cm 2 2 respectively. The mean values (log10CFU/cm ) showed that EC> LSC>SSC for before meat sales while after 2 sales showed that EC>SSC>LSC. A significat difference (p