It is in Murang’a and Kiambu where the veterinary doctors discovered this exercise. The shocking revelation could have an impact to chicken lovers. The populated Nairobi city highly depends on the supply of chicken and other products from other counties.
Dr Elloy Otieno said that they had established the use of ARVs on chicken from clients located around Murang’a and Thika town. The farmers are doing this to increase weight gain of the chicken so that they are able to sell them within a period of 4 weeks.
The veterinarians partially point out that the use of these drugs to ‘fatten chicken’ to absolute ignorance. The idea of using ARVs on chicken with an impression that they will fatten as it is the case with humans, is just an indicator that these farmers are simply transferring in an effort to increase chicken productivity.
Apparently, not only Kenyan farmers who are involved with using ARVs for the wrong purpose, but also Ugandan farmers. The Ugandans are exercising this method to fatten pigs. In Zimbabwe it was discovered that Brazil exports to them chicken smeared with preserving fluids, usually used to preserve dead bodies. The fluid is believed to be used on chicken to keep them appear fresh until they are sold.
Doctors believe that farmers who apply human drugs on their animals assume that the same effect can occur on the animals. The farmers go on with these experiments that can be of harm without consulting veterinarians.
Though veterinarians fear the practice of using ARVs on chicken may be widespread, they are unwilling to provide names of farmers who are involved in the exercise for fear of ‘victimising’. Farmers who were approached and asked about the exercise refuted the presence of the vice.
It is alleged that the farmers buy the ARVs from those infected by the HIV virus. The individuals go and register at different health centers as the drugs are for free. They then sell the extra drugs to the poultry farmers.
Doctor Ibrahim Mohamed said that people who unsuspectingly eat ARVs laced foods put their lives danger.
Other than creating drugs scarcity for people living with the HIV virus, Dr Ibrahim warns that those who end up taking foods with the ARVs while healthy decreases the efficiency of the drugs when one finally gets infected.
