The poultry industry has expanded rapidly in developing countries in the last two decades. Grasshoppers, crickets, cockroaches, termites, lice, stink bugs, cicadas, aphids, scale insects, psyllids, beetles, caterpillars, flies, fleas, bees, wasps and ants have all been used as complementary food sources for poultry (Ravindran and Blair, 1993). In developing countries, animal and plant proteins supply the amino acids (e.g. lysine, methionine and cystine) in poultry feed. Animal-based, protein-rich feed ingredients are generally made up of imported fish and meat or blood meal, while plant-based resources include imported oil cakes and leguminous grains. Termites have reportedly been used as feed for chickens and guinea fowl in Togo and Burkina Faso (Iroko, 1982; Farina, Demey and Hardouin, 1991). Chitin, a polysaccharide found in the exoskeleton of insects, may have a positive effect on the functioning of the immune system. By feeding insects to chickens, the use of antibiotics in the poultry industry – which may lead to human infection with drug-resistant bacterial strains (Box 4) – may be diminished. [Box 4. Chicken Consumption Leading to Human Infection With Highly Drug-Resistant ES BL Strains In the Netherlands, patients suffering from serious urinary tract or bloodstream infections were evaluated. One in five of these patients were infected with ESBL (extended spectrum beta-lactamase) bacteria genetically identical to bacteria found in chicken. ESBL-containing strains of bacteria produce enzymes that bring about resistance to antibiotics like penicillin and the cephalosporins. Two bacteria – Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae – most commonly produce ESBL enzymes. About 35 per cent of the human isolates contained poultry-associated ESBL genes. The use of antibiotics is higher in the Dutch poultry industry than in any other European country; consequently, ESBL prevalence is correspondingly high. The study also revealed that nearly all (94 per cent) chicken in Dutch supermarkets and at poultry farms are infected with ESBL bacteria, possibly due to the common use of antibiotics in their feed. Research is needed to ascertain whether feeding chickens with insects (containing chitin) will make the use of antibiotics superfluous by strengthening the immune system. Source: van Hall et al., 2011.]
Posted on: Sun, 06 Oct 2013 15:03:13 +0000
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