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The impact of COVID-19 on food security can best be understood from the downturn on agricultural and other related economic activities which were almost brought to a total halt during the pandemic. The restriction of movement/lockdown policy instituted by various governments heavily affected local and national food production as farmers could not go to their farmlands. More so, there was price gouging on raw food items as local farmers were reducing cultivation and harvest because of their safety. The lockdown also affected the transportation of food products from farms and local companies to the market and across inter-state/province borders. Additionally, many human infections traceable to disease outbreak from animal origin suggest a great risk of exposure to infectious agents by live animal farmers. In combating this menace, local food production needs to be encouraged more, while measures should be put in place to facilitate farmer's participation in government regulations on enforcing biosecurity, health standards, disease monitoring, and surveillance practices.

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Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the World Health Organization (WHO), Centre for Disease Control (CDC), and other health organizations around the world have coordinated the flow of information and given out preventive directives measures and guidelines to reduce the impact and spread of the disease. Meanwhile, bodies of scientists and researchers around the world are still working ceaselessly to study the virus, mode of transmission mechanisms, and are rapidly developing therapeutic antiviral drugs and vaccines. Thus, the urgent need for the fabrication of biocompatible and biodegradable composite materials as drug delivery vehicles for the efficient loading, targeted delivery, and controlled release of antiviral drugs to the target site is been inspired. Therefore, this review highlights the antimicrobial and antiviral activities of chitosan as well as the potency of a combined therapy via electrostatic/hydrogen bonding encapsulation onto the WHO suggested clinical trial drugs and possible chelation with metal ions to form new improved antiviral compounds as promising agents for targeted drug delivery.

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Aquaculture has emerged as one of the world’s fastest-growing food industries in recent years, helping food security and boosting global economic status. The indiscriminate disposal of untreated or improperly managed waste and effluents from different sources including production plants, food processing sectors, and healthcare sectors release various contaminants such as bioactive compounds and unmetabolized antibiotics, and antibiotic-resistant organisms into the environment. These emerging contaminants (ECs), especially antibiotics, have the potential to pollute the environment, particularly the aquatic ecosystem due to their widespread use in aquaculture, leading to various toxicological effects on aquatic organisms as well as long-term persistence in the environment. However, various forms of nanotechnology-based technologies are now being explored to assist other remediation technologies to boost productivity, efficiency, and sustainability. In this review, we critically highlighted several ecofriendly nanotechnological methods including nanodrug and vaccine delivery, nanoformulations, and nanosensor for their antimicrobial effects in aquaculture and aquatic organisms, potential public health risks associated with nanoparticles, and their mitigation measures for sustainable management. Graphical abstract