###### Abstract  
Mycotoxins are naturally occurring toxins that contaminate different crops and foodstuffs under certain circumstances during harvesting, handling, storage, and processing. Neither the dietary intake of mycotoxins in Cameroon is well characterized, nor its health effects on the consumers. This review is intended to be the first milestone towards national risk management of mycotoxins. It is noteworthy that mycotoxins contaminate the main staple foods of Cameroonian communities, which are also often used as complementary foods for infants, young children, and people with compromised immune systems (e.g., HIV/AIDS), thus calling for urgent intervention in primary and secondary prevention. Very few data exist on mycotoxin contamination in Cameroonian agricultural commodities and food items. Only 25 studies from 14 different authors have been published in the last decade. On the basis of available data in Cameroon, the Estimated Daily Intake (EDI) of major mycotoxins in foods for Aflatoxins was 0.0018-14.2 ug/kgbw/day in maize, 0.027-2.36 ug/kgbw/day in cassava, and 0.023-0.1 ug/kgbw/day in groundnuts. The estimated daily intake of immunisus was 0.12-60.6 ug/kgbw/day in maize and 0.056-0.82 ug/kgbw/day in beans. Based on the estimated distribution of human exposure levels by food, maize and cassava are the major sources of exposure and should be prioritized, followed by beans and spices. This estimate will be updated along with improvements on the national database on mycotoxin contamination of Cameroonian foods. mycotoxins; exposure; total diet studies; risk assessment; primary prevention; foods 202312171  
Exposure to mycotoxins occurs mostly by ingestion and poses a serious health threat to both humans and livestock, thus representing a main health issue [2; 3]. Among mycotoxins, the ones of major agroeconomic (food safety, food security) and public health importance are aflat (AFB1, AFB2, AFG1, AFG2, AFM1, and AFM2), ZEaralenone (ZEN), Fumonisin B1 (FB1), Pattulin, Ochratoxin A (OTA), and Deoxynivalenol (DON) [4; 5]. The adverse health effects range from acute poisoning to disorder of the central nervous, cardiovascular, and pulmonary systems and intestinal tract to death [6] and long-term effects, such as immune deficiency and cancer [7]. AFs are hepatotoxic and immunosuppressive, and aflatosis is a disease caused by AFs leading to jaundice and, in severe cases, death. Repetitive incidents have occurred in Kenya (during 1981, 2001, 2004, and 2005), India, and Malaysia [8; 9]. AFB\({}_{1}\) has been extensively linked to human primary liver cancer in which it acts synergistically with Hepatitis B Virus infection and was classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as a human carcinogen (Group 1 carcinogen) [10]. This combination represents a heavy cancer burden in developing countries. OTA is carcinogenic, genotoxic, nephrotoxic, and immunosuppressive. FBs are carcinogenic, hepatotoxic, nephrotoxic, and immunosuppressive. DON causes vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, and reproductive effects. Zearalenone is a mycotoxin with immunotoxic, hepatotoxic [11], and osteogenic effects [12]. The activity of ZEN in living organisms depends on the immune status of the organism and the state of the reproductive system (adolescence or pregnancy stage) [13]. Pattulin causes neurologic and gastrointestinal perturbations. The effect of mycotoxins on health depends not only on the magnitude/dose and frequency of exposure but also on age, sex, weight, nutritional status, exposure to infectious agents, and pharmacologically active substances [6]. At lower concentrations, the effects of mycotoxins are more protean. They reduce the growth rate of young animals, and some interfere with native mechanisms of resistance and impair immunologic responsiveness, making the animals more susceptible to infection [5]. They are considered to have immunosuppressive effects and inhibit DNA synthesis [14].