Anthrax: Experts Caution Against Meat Consumption, Recommend Fish

Following the fear of an outbreak of Anthrax disease in different parts of the country health experts on Wednesday cautioned against the consumption of animal skin, popularly called “kpomo” for now.

In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, they recommended the consumption of fish and poultry products.

The experts expressed their views in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja.

Dr Ifeanyi Ogbu, Chairman of the Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA) FCT Chapter, specifically advised the populace to consume catfish.

“At the moment consumption of animal skin, popularly known as kpomo should be avoided because anthrax permeates the skin, spore, and hair of animals more; no amount of heat can destroy it.

“So I advise the public to refrain from consumption of animal skin for now till the disease is properly controlled.

“Fish and poultry are the quality animals available in the country at the moment because they do not contract anthrax, neither does it survive in them.

“Secondly, they contain good protein sources for both people on special diets and everyone; it is also affordable,” he said.

Similarly, the National President of NVMA, Dr Oluwatoyin Adetuberu, said meat processing value chain was meant to ascertain whether there were harmful diseases in animals before they are slaughtered for consumption.

According to her, such practice is operational in most northern states with a large number of veterinarians working in conjunction with the ministries of agriculture.

Adetuberu identified Kebbi as one of the states that carry out such exercises before and after the animals were slaughtered.

“Meat processing value is from the point at which the animal is brought to the lairage, it is inspected to know whether such animal is sick or healthy, after that, it will be moved to an abattoir for slaughter.

“Upon slaughtering, it is examined to see whether there is any kind of disease in the meat.

“If there is no sign of anything that can be injurious to the human populace that meat passes for sale to the public,” she said.

She said it was important for this process to be strengthened nationwide to avoid outbreak of animal borne diseases.

– NAN