Inventory of Animal Contamination by Cyanotoxins in Africa

Abstract

This study reviews work on the accumulation of cyanotoxins in fish and various animals in Africa. Microcystins (MC-LR, MC-RR, and MC-YR) appear to be the main contaminating toxin in fish and other animals. In fish, the highest concentration (1917 μg.kg-1) was detected in the whole body of a small species of fish (Rastrineobola argenta) consumed whole by the populations around Lake Victoria. In large species, the intestine (followed by the liver) is the organ that accumulates the most cyanotoxins; up to 3059 ng.g-1 in Algerian common carp. Fish muscle accumulates little or no cyanotoxins in most publications and Oreochromis niloticus, a phytoplanktonophagous species widely consumed by the African populations, remains the most studied species. In other animal species, cases of cyanotoxin mortality were reported in most publications in southern and central Africa and only one publication in North Africa. No study on this subject has been referenced in other parts of Africa.