Zimbabwe’s poultry industry is facing a growing health scandal, as a journalistic investigation reveals that broiler farmers are illegally mixing antiretroviral medicines into chicken feed—seeking to reduce mortality and accelerate growth.
The Southern Africa Accountability Journalism Project (SA AJP), an investigative journalism initiative focused on public accountability, spoke with two sources in the poultry industry who confirmed the practice of adding HIV medicines to poultry feed, in a report published in Daily Maverick, a South African publication.
Farmers’ motivation
For example, a farmer operating in the Waterfalls neighbourhood of Harare admitted covertly mixing ARVs, illegally bought from a health worker at a local hospital, into the feed for her chickens.
The farmer said her initial motivation was not to accelerate the birds’ growth, but to reduce losses from common poultry diseases. Only later did she come to believe the drugs could also help chickens grow faster.
A working practice
Notably, interviewed farmers said HIV medicines have worked miracles for their businesses.
The farmer, who was on the edge due to outbreaks of Newcastle disease, saw a noticeable decline in bird mortality and higher gains.
“The mortality rate plummeted, and my broiler chickens grew faster. I have since expanded my operation from 200 to 10,000 birds per cycle [over about 2 years]. And, instead of waiting 6 weeks, I could sell them [for slaughter] at just 4 weeks,” the farmer told the SA AJP journalists.
The farmer uses a combination of antiretroviral drugs consisting of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, lamivudine and dolutegravir, commonly used to treat HIV patients in Zimbabwe. None of these medicines have ever been properly studied for their effectiveness in poultry feeding.
A potential threat
Despite its potential effectiveness, the use of HIV medicines is strictly prohibited in Zimbabwe.
Some local healthcare officials have been voicing concerns that the practice could pose risks to human health, particularly for people living with HIV. Analysts warned that consumers who regularly eat poultry exposed to antiretroviral drugs may be ingesting drug residues, although the extent of any resulting health risks has not been thoroughly studied.
There are also fears that repeated exposure to ARV residues could potentially interfere with HIV treatment in patients already taking the medicines, although direct evidence for such effects in humans remains limited.
The concern is particularly relevant in Zimbabwe, where around 1.3 million people are living with HIV and 1.2 million are receiving antiretroviral therapy, according to the country’s Ministry of Health and Child Care.
