Abstract
Plant pathogenic bacteria are conventionally studied within the narrow confines of crop science, yet a growing body of evidence indicates that the microorganisms, practices, and environments associated with plant disease management are tightly interwoven with human health outcomes. This review adopts a One Health perspective to examine the multiple pathways through which plant pathogenic bacteria and the agricultural systems built around them intersect with human wellbeing in Nigeria. Nigeria’s agricultural sector, largely rural, smallholder-based, and dependent on rainfall, sustains the livelihoods of about seventy percent of the adult population and forms the foundation of the country’s food security. At the same time, it faces considerable pressure from bacterial diseases affecting staple and vegetable crops, alongside unchecked agrochemical application, tainted irrigation sources, and weak post-harvest handling practices. Drawing on published Nigerian and regional literature, the review synthesises evidence on economically important phytobacterial pathogens such as Ralstonia solanacearum, Xanthomonas species, and soft-rot Pectobacterium and Erwinia species, and traces four principal pathways by which these organisms and their management intersect with human health: contamination of fresh produce and the associated burden of foodborne illness; the agro-environmental reservoir of antimicrobial resistance genes and their horizontal transfer across the soil-plant-human continuum; occupational and community exposure to pesticides applied to control bacterial and other crop diseases; and the indirect pathway through which crop losses undermine food security, nutrition, and household resilience. The review situates these findings within Nigeria’s evolving One Health governance architecture, including the National One Health Strategic Plan and the multi-sectoral Technical Working Group on antimicrobial resistance, and identifies persistent gaps in intersectoral surveillance, laboratory capacity, and the integration of plant health into national One Health structures. The paper concludes that meaningfully protecting human health in Nigeria requires the explicit inclusion of plant pathology and phytosanitary systems within One Health planning, alongside strengthened food safety regulation, rational agrochemical governance, and investment in integrated surveillance that links soil, water, crop, and clinical data.