The Benue state government has cautioned residents against the consumption of dead animals to avert contracting anthrax disease.
The Chairman of the state Committee on Prevention and Control of Anthrax and Director of Livestock Services, Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Dr Edward Amali, who gave the advice Thursday in Makurdi, said the call became necessary following the discovery that some butchers were in the habit of slaughtering and selling already dead animals.
He condemned the practice assuring that the government would embark on house-to-house sensitisation to get the people conscientious on the dangers of the diseases
He said: “At this point when there is a scare of an anthrax disease in the country, we are advised to ensure we are cautious on how we eat pork and beef. They must be inspected at the abattoirs if you must eat meat.
“We advise butchers to completely desist from butchering dead animals because you don’t know what killed the animals but some of them won’t heed. By so doing, they are also the first point of contact. The hazard is theirs. The animals must be inspected and certified okay before it come into the abattoir.”
Amali assured that the state government through the committee, had intensified the sensitization of residents on safety measures.
According to him, “we had embarked on television and radio sensitization and we now want to commence house to house sensitization because we have realised that because of the law prohibiting open grazing in the state, most houses and compounds have animals tied in their premises that do not come out at all and this could form a major number among livestock populations in the state.
“So even if they are 20 or 30 percent, we are looking at starting our sensitization campaign house to house so that we could reach these animals that are being kept and fed within the houses.”
While urging residents to watchout for symptoms of the disease in their livestock, Dr. Amali said “once you see blood oozing out of its eyes, ears, the anus or the anal area and the blood does not clot even after sometimes, the immediate thing to do is to quickly cordon the place so that nobody goes around there. Anthrax is contagious by contact and inhalation of the source.”
“We have been sensitizing the people on what to do; once they suspect anthrax, cordon the area, rush to the closest veterinarian, animal health specialist or government authorities to report for immediate action.”
He assured that his committee was working round the clock to ensure that there was no outbreak of the disease in the state.
