Akinyinka also said it is not advisable to eat meat from unknown sources or whose cause of death is unknown.

The physician said, “An animal may have a disease that makes its completely unfit for human consumption. So, if such an animal dies and someone goes to pick up the meat and eats it, such a person stands the risk of contracting the disease that killed the animal.

“Also, eating meat of a dead animal is unhealthy because you are not even sure of what killed it. What if the animal ate something poisonous and died of it? If poison is in a dead animal and someone consumes the meat, the person will consume the poison as well.

“Poisons in dead animals can be transmitted to humans. So, people can still pick up potions in dead animals, though it depends on the type of poison. Cooking may not destroy poison in meat of dead animals.”

Recently, the monarch of Akungba Akoko in Akoko South-West Local Government Area of Ondo State, Oba Sunday Ajimo, warned his subjects not to consume dead cow meat as 30 animals died mysteriously in the community.

The monarch said that he had instructed butchers and other concerned persons not to sell the dead cows to residents, as the meat might be inimical to their health.

“The cows were seen falling down mysteriously. Some said they drank water suspected to have been poisoned or that they ate poisoned plants. I have given instructions that the cows should not be sold under any circumstance since the cause of death is not known yet,” the monarch had stated.

According to experts, foot and mouth disease, brucellosis and tuberculosis, bracken poisoning, anaemia, and mad cow disease are some of the infections that could affect a cow, and could lead to livestock death if not treated.

Akinyinka reiterated, “So, if you don’t know the source of meat you are consuming, there could be a problem. That means you don’t know if the animal was properly killed or if the meat was sourced from a dead animal. This is dangerous.

“This is why people are warned against consuming fish that has taken in some metals. If people consume such fish and the metals now enter into their body, it will cause serious harm to them.”

The physician noted that consuming meat of animals that had been dead for a while could cause diarrhoea, for instance, saying, “it is not advisable for people to eat meat of animals that they found dead — even in domestic setting.

“Only eat meat that has been certified fit for consumption and prepared in hygienic condition, she counselled.

The physician pointed out that people could also acquire tuberculosis by consuming meat of infected animals.

Experts say cows and many other animals can harbor bovine tuberculosis, a disease caused by infection with Mycobacterium bovis — a close relative of the bacteria that cause human tuberculosis.

According to the World Health Organisation, worldwide, tuberculosis is one of the top 10 causes of death and the leading cause from a single infectious agent (above HIV/AIDS).

“A total of 1.4 million people died from TB in 2019 (including 208,000 people with HIV). In 2019, an estimated 10 million people fell ill with tuberculosis worldwide, comprising 5.6 million men, 3.2 million women and 1.2 million children,” WHO says.

Akinyinka urged people to always purchase meat from certified sources.

source: Punch