Agroecology Influences Food Contamination with High Exposure Risk Among Children in Karamoja Sub-region: A High Diarrhoea Prevalent Locality in Uganda

Overview

Journal Heliyon

Specialty Social Sciences

Date 2022 Nov 28

PMID 36439775

Authors

Lawrence Okidi

Duncan Ongeng

Patrick Simiyu Muliro

Joseph Wafula Matofari

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Uganda is among low-income countries where induced diarrhoea still contributes significantly to children under five years (CUF) mortality. Karamoja, a sub-region characterised by three agroecologies (pastoral: PE; agro-pastoral: APE; agricultural: AE), is a geographical location that has consistently experienced a high prevalence of diarrhoea among CUF over the last decade nationally. This study examined whether agroecology influences food contamination and exposure risk to CUF. A total of 240 food samples (PE: 78; APE: 73; AE: 89) were examined for load using Xylose Lysine Deoxycholate Agar and confirmed using polymerase chain reaction targeting gene. Analysis of variance for nested design was used to compare counts among food types within and across agroecologies and means were separated using Tukey Honestly Significant Difference test at 5% (p < 0.05). Proportion of foods with load exceeding World Health Organisation (WHO) set-limit was expressed in percentage. Exposure risk of CUF was computed by multiplying quantity of food intake by load and compared to minimum infectious dose (MID) of the pathogen (3 log CFU) whereas chi-square was used to compare proportions of CUF with exposure above or below MID among agroecologies. load ranged from 0.00 ± 0.00 to 8.23 ± 1.12 log CFU but varied by food type and agroecology. aggregated load in foods from PE was significantly higher than from APE or AE (p < 0.05). The proportion of contaminated foods from PE, APE, and AE was 33-90%, 40-67%, and 17-88%, respectively. exposure risks to CUF were similar (p > 0.05) at 96%, 92%, and 91% in PE, APE, and AE, respectively. Sorghum-based foods and leafy vegetables were the predominant high-risk foods. This study has revealed that contamination of foods with high exposure risk among CUF in Karamoja sub-region varies with agroecology. Efforts to address food contamination in the sub-region should take into account agroecology.

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