Unchecked red meat slips through

Jurisdictional mess, inspector shortage jeopardise govt's anti-anthrax fight

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Front Page

Although the government directed livestock department officials to remain on highest alert to prevent spread of anthrax, the efforts seem to be dogged down by a lack of proper coordination among different relevant agencies, and an acute shortage of veterinary inspectors.

According to doctors, anthrax is caused by a spore forming bacterium called Bacillus anthracis. It commonly infects plant-eating mammals which ingest or inhale the spores while grazing. Humans can become infected with gastrointestinal anthrax by eating undercooked meat from infected animals.

Inspection of cattle prior to slaughter is an important way of preventing spread of the disease among humans. But most of the red meat available on the country's markets come from cattle slaughtered at kitchen markets without inspection.

The entire process of authorising slaughter of animals for consumption lies with either city corporations or municipalities --- not with the livestock department, said officials of the Department of Livestock Services (DLS).

"We are not authorised to inspect cattle for slaughter," said an official of the department on condition of anonymity.

"Officially every municipality or city corporation must assign a veterinary inspector and a sanitary inspector for certifying each cattle before slaughter," he added.

"We are solely responsible for treatment of animals brought to veterinary hospitals, and to create mass awareness about animal diseases including the ones that can be transmitted to humans," said Dr Saiful Islam, district livestock officer in Sirajganj. "We don't monitor slaughterhouses," he added.

And officials of city corporations and municipalities are saying they are not adequately staffed and equipped to inspect all cattle before slaughter.

Veterinary Officer of Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) Dr Azmat Ali told The Daily Star on Monday,

"We have only two veterinary inspectors for five DCC-run slaughterhouses." Moreover, the equipment there are antiquated, he added.

He said more than 700 cows, 250 buffaloes, and 5,000 goats are slaughtered everyday in the city for consumption. Thirty percent of those are slaughtered in DCC-run slaughterhouses while the remaining 70 percent are slaughtered mostly at butcher shops of kitchen markets.

Most of the cattle in DCC slaughterhouses cannot be checked, Azmat said. And what happens in other places is anyone's guess.

Secretary of Pabna Municipality Saidur Rahman said it is not possible for them to check all cattle to be slaughtered across the district, due to inadequate manpower, and a lack of cooperation from cattle traders and butchers.

Although the district administration -- after a meeting with officials of the district health department, district livestock department and the municipality on Monday -- asked all butchers not to slaughter cattle without approval from government appointed veterinarians, the authorities actually do not have enough inspectors to appoint, he said.

Moreover, the government appointed inspectors can only check for visible symptoms of diseases, no diagnostic test is possible due to lack of proper equipment and inadequate manpower, he added.

Sirajganj District Livestock Officer Dr Shafiqul Islam said they in collaboration with the district administration selected a slaughterhouse in the district headquarters where cattle are examined before slaughter. But in other places cattle are slaughtered without inspection.

Kushtia Municipality Mayor Anwar Ali said he appointed a veterinarian to inspect cattle before slaughter. But the veterinarian cannot check all such cattle in the district. He can only check the ones that are to be slaughtered at a certain place and time.

"Although we have been requesting the authorities over a long period to increase manpower, to make the slaughterhouses bigger, and to procure modern equipment, they do not pay heed to us," said Azmat of DCC.

The government however is hoping to start construction of six modern slaughterhouses in the six city corporations by the end of this year with financial assistance from the Asian Development Bank, said Shawpan Kumar Shil, a research assistant at the bank.

DCC will also get a modern slaughterhouse at Gabtoli with the capacity of slaughtering 5,000 cattle a day, he added.

A joint secretary of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock said on condition of anonymity, "We have drafted a new act for cattle slaughtering, to end the confusion about jurisdiction. The drafted act is waiting in the cabinet for final approval. If it is passed, the whole responsibility of certifying cattle for slaughter will be on livestock officials."

To address the current crisis, all livestock officers were directed to work in collaboration with city corporations and municipalities, the joint secretary added.

When asked how the collaboration will work, he said, "If municipality or city corporation slaughterhouse authorities request for veterinarians from the livestock department, they will send them there."

He also said so far there has been no report of anthrax transmission to humans from any slaughterhouse, humans have so far been infected mostly through direct contact with infected animals in rural areas.

Meanwhile, every day cattle are imported through 24 points of the border, and DLS has no jurisdiction to inspect those animals. But within the next six months, however, cattle and fodder inspection centres of DLS will be set up at 22 of those points, said Director General of DLS Ashraf Ali.

"Bangladesh Rifles now inspect the cattle that are imported through the border," he added.

When asked if any DLS official is assigned to help the border guards in the task, he answered, "No," adding that BDR checks the animals but cannot perform any pathological test, since no veterinarian is posted with the guards.

Around 7,000 cattle including cows, buffaloes, and goats arrive in the capital's largest cattle market at Gabtoli every day, but so far only one veterinary inspector have been assigned to inspect the animals.

Asked whether the number of inspectors at the cattle market is inadequate, the DLS DG said, "The inspector only checks the temperature of the animals, he does not perform any pathological test."

When asked whether even for that the number is inadequate, he said, "He has two assistants as well."

Dr Azmat of DCC said, "If all the cattle arriving at Gabtoli from different parts of the country and India are not checked, the chance of anthrax spreading in the city will remain high."

But the livestock and fisheries joint secretary said the chance of anthrax being transported to Dhaka with imported animals is very little, since infected cattle die within a day or two of the infection, so if an infected cattle is imported from India it will most probably die before reaching Dhaka.