Zimbabwe's Black Market ARV Use in Poultry: A Growing Public Health Threat
核心洞察
Zimbabwean broiler farmers are illegally mixing antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) into chicken feed, sourced from corrupt health workers via black market networks, to reduce mortality and accelerate growth.
The TLD regimen — tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, lamivudine, and dolutegravir — is being diverted from HIV (搜索) patients, with one farmer expanding from 200 to 10,000 birds per cycle after adopting the practice.
Experts warn that repeated human exposure to ARV residues through contaminated meat could reduce treatment effectiveness in HIV (搜索)-positive individuals and contribute to antimicrobial resistance.
Zimbabwean broiler chicken farmers are systematically diverting antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) intended for HIV (搜索) patients into poultry feed, an investigation by the Southern Africa Accountability Journalism Project (SA AJP) has revealed. The practice, driven by farmers' belief that ARVs protect flocks from disease and accelerate growth, involves black market supply chains that reach directly into the country's public health system.
One farmer operating in the Waterfalls neighbourhood of Harare, identified only as Jane, admitted to covertly mixing crushed ARV tablets into her chickens' feed and water. She described obtaining a monthly supply from a health official at a local hospital through a network of peddlers using coded communication to evade detection.
"I get my monthly supply from the health official who has a network of peddlers who handle the business on his behalf," Jane told investigators. She paid a deposit to establish the connection and was directed to a peddler at Copacabana, a bus terminus in Harare's central business district, where a code was required to collect the drugs.
The TLD Regimen and Its Illicit Use
The specific formulation being diverted is TLD — a fixed-dose combination of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, lamivudine, and dolutegravir. This once-daily triple-therapy regimen is Zimbabwe's preferred first-line treatment for adults and adolescents living with HIV (搜索), according to Zvandiri, an HIV support programme.
Jane reported dramatic results after introducing the crushed tablets into her operation. "The mortality rate plummeted, and my broiler chickens grew faster," she said. Over approximately two years, she expanded from 200 to 10,000 birds per cycle and reduced the time to slaughter from six weeks to just four.
Her initial motivation was not growth stimulation but disease control. "Newcastle disease (搜索) would sweep through, and I was losing half my birds in some cycles. There was no money left for school fees," she explained. A fellow farmer introduced her to the practice for a fee of $100, paid in two instalments.
A Widespread but Understudied Phenomenon
An agricultural business advisory officer at Zimbabwe's Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the practice appears widespread. "I have been on site visits to different farms across the country," he said. "The farmers admitted that they were using ARVs mixed with their chicken feed to accelerate broiler growth for financial gain."
The officer described observable changes in ARV-fed poultry: "When slaughtered, the chickens have a reddish abnormal colour that is not found in free-range broiler chicken. The taste of the chicken when cooked is bland and differs from the natural flavour."
The use of ARVs in animal feed has been previously documented elsewhere in Africa. A 2019 Ugandan study found that farmers fed ARVs to broiler chickens believing the drugs promoted rapid weight gain, with laboratory screening confirming ARV residues in feed and poultry. A Tanzanian study detected lamivudine residues in broiler chicken muscle and blood, pig muscle and blood, and animal feed. However, no controlled study has demonstrated that ARVs themselves accelerate broiler growth.
Public Health Implications
Daniel Zulu, former head of the Toxicology and Clinical Department at Zimbabwe's Government Analyst Laboratory, warned that repeated exposure to ARV residues through contaminated meat poses significant risks. For HIV (搜索)-positive individuals, he said, consuming poultry exposed to ARVs "could potentially see a reduction in the effectiveness of antiretroviral treatment."
Zimbabwe has 1.3 million people living with HIV (搜索), with 1.2 million currently on ARVs, according to the Ministry of Health and Child Care (搜索). The loss of USAID funding has already disrupted HIV service delivery, affecting medicine distribution, patient management, and clinic staffing. The diversion of ARVs into the black market further threatens drug availability for those in critical need.
For HIV (搜索)-negative consumers, Zulu noted concerns about "potential long-term health effects, including possible toxicity and other risks that warrant further research."
Antimicrobial Resistance: A Compounding Crisis
Brian Fungai Chikodze, registrar for the Council of Veterinary Surgeons of Zimbabwe (搜索), revealed that ARVs are typically just one component in a cocktail of human medications mixed into chicken feed, most often combined with other antimicrobial agents.
The World Health Organization identifies antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as one of the world's leading public health threats. The Food and Agriculture Organization (搜索) (FAO) reported in February 2026 that antibiotic-resistant bacteria are a growing challenge in Zimbabwe's poultry sector. More than 1.2 million deaths were directly attributable to bacterial antimicrobial resistance globally in 2019, with children under five among the most affected.
"Whatever antimicrobial is used in the animals is going to be passed to the human consumers and simple infections become harder to treat, and people will be sicker for longer and in cases die from infections that were previously curable," Chikodze said.
Under Zimbabwe's Medicines and Allied Substances Control Act, using human medicines in food-producing animals without appropriate authorisation is prohibited. Yet Jane, the Waterfalls farmer, acknowledged the risk in stark terms: "I don't eat the ARV-fed chickens. I have my own coop behind my house where I raise free-range chickens for me and my children."
Government Silence
Media queries submitted to the Ministry of Health and Child Care (搜索) regarding the health implications of the practice were acknowledged by spokesperson Donald Mujiri, but no response was provided by the time of publication. The Department of Veterinary Services, under the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, did not respond to emails or follow-up calls.