The Director of Veterinary Services, Cross River Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Dr. Obi Ogar, has disclosed that well-boiled meat does not prevent one from contracting anthrax after consumption.
He said this on Saturday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Calabar.
Dr. Ogar, who was reacting to claims in some quarters that boiling meat properly could kill the pathogen that causes anthrax, aid the bacterium can only be destroyed by incineration.
Anthrax is a deadly bacterial and zoonotic disease caused by a bacterium called Bacillus anthracis. It also occurs primarily in cattle, sheep, goats, and could affect other animals.
Read Also:
Read Also: Nigeria Records First Anthrax Case in Niger
The director emphasised that said anthrax can only be destroyed by using heat through the process of incineration, which will burn the substance to ashes.
He said while burying a dead animal infected by anthrax, the grave should be very deep and the animal disinfectant with chemicals to prevent any escape of the pores.
“This organism is not killed by the heat from our kitchens but from incineration, thereby burning the substance to ashes renders the meat of no use to the owner,” he added.
Ogar said the public should desist from eating bush meat for the time being as the disease is zoonotic and could also affect animals in the wild.
He advised Nigerians to endeavour to buy meat from approved meat markets and not from roadsides.
