Let’s consider fowls for Eid-Ul-Adha celebration due to Anthrax – Director

Mr Douglas Tagoe, the Greater Accra Regional Director for Environmental Health, has advised the Muslim community to consider using fowls for the celebration of this year’s Eid-Ul-Adha. 

Mr Tagoe, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on the outbreak of Anthrax in the country, said that alternative had become necessary to curb the spread of the disease.  

Talensi and Binduri in the Upper East Region in May 2023, recorded cases of Anthrax, which led to the death of 20 sheep and four cattle, with several others infected. 

One person is reported dead after consuming meat from an infected animal. 

Mr Tagoe said to be on the safer side, the Muslim community must consider other alternatives. 

Anthrax is caused by Bacillus anthracis bacteria and affects both humans and animals. 

People?who?come?into?direct?contact?with?infected livestock, such as cattle, sheep, goats, or their by products, run the danger of contracting anthrax.

Although there are rumors that grilling and frying could get rid of the bacteria in the meat, Mr Tagoe said that was not possible. 

He said the bacteria was not visible and could only be detected through laboratory tests, hence the suggestion that the bacteria could be eliminated through cooking was misleading.  

Mr Tagoe said cooking infected meat in most cases did not kill the bacteria in them, hence the need for great caution in consuming such meat. 

He urged Muslims who would want livestock for the celebration to check the health of the animals before buying just as the Quran and the Prophet Mohammed thought them.  

“When buying the animals, make sure you do the necessary checks. Make sure that the animals do not look sick, lean, have a runny nose or blood oozing from the nose or any part.”

Meanwhile, when the GNA visited the James Town cattle and sheep market on Monday, it saw scores of people buying livestock in preparation for the celebration. 

Mr Zubeiru Aliyu, a sheep vendor at the Jamestown Cattle Market, said they were not aware of the outbreak of any disease in animals, adding that veterinary officers screened all animals before they were sold.  

To deal with the outbreak, the Upper East Regional Coordinating Council had imposed a region-wide one-month prohibition on the transportation of cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, donkeys, and their byproducts to curtail the spread of the disease. 

Eid-Ul-Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice is the second and the largest of the two main holidays celebrated in Islam (the other being Eid al-Fitr).  

It honours the willingness of Abraham (Ibrahim) to sacrifice his son Ishmael (Ismail) as an act of obedience to God’s command. 

 It is celebrated annually on the tenth day of Dhu al-Hijjah, on the Islamic calendar. Muslims across the globe mark the day by sacrificing a goat, sheep, or battle. 

The 2023 Eid-Ul-Adha celebration falls on June 28, and marks the culmination of the hajj (pilgrimage) rites at Min?, Saudi Arabia, near Mecca, but celebrated by Muslims throughout the world. 

Source: GNA  

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