September 6, 2010

 

Demand for Bangladeshi beef falls on Anthrax phobia

Beef demand is falling making demand for broiler chicken to increase as deaths of two cows were reported from Bhola and Pirojpur districts of Bangladesh due to anthrax.

 

Concerned government officials have denied the news.

 

Barisal City Corporation authorities have no slaughtering house and also no control or supervision over 26 beef shops with slaughtering process. Shawkat Hossain Hiron, Barisal City Corporation Mayor (BCC), admitting the fact said that construction of a scientific slaughtering house was included in BCC budget of current fiscal year.

 

"BCC has no veterinary doctor and livestock and market departments' staffs are not much trained enough to detect such kind of disease. So, we sought help from livestock department for prevention and detection of anthrax in the city," the mayor said.

 

In this situation, anthrax panic gripped mass people and business of beef sharply downed to Tk 200 (US$2.88) and prices of broiler highly increased to Tk 135 (US$1.94) per kg in Barisal city.

 

In the city, daily on an average 20 cattle were slaughtered while this number now reduced to 7/8 per day and even the customers except some hotel cooks are very few for that, said Latif Koshai, a butcher of Barisal Puran Bazar beef shop.

 

Dr Kamaluddin, acting director of Barisal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital, said that no anthrax infected patient has been admitted to this hospital till now.

 

On other hand, reports received from Bhola said that a cow of Khokan Mia at West Charnoabad village in Sadar upazila died of anthrax Tuesday (Aug 31). Dr MK Saha, upazila livestock officer after hearing the report rushed to the spot and supervised the burial of the dead cow.

 

Report from Bara Machua village in Mathbaria upazila of Pirojpur district said that a cow of Delwar Hossain died of anthrax. Dr Dinesh Chandra Majumdar, upazila livestock officer, acknowledging the fact said the dead body of the cow was buried under deep earth.

 

However, Dr Mrinal Kanti Mridha, Barisal divisional livestock officer, denied any detection of anthrax in the division. He said that deaths of livestock in monsoon season by eating poisonous grass, loose motion and other types of infection are being considered as anthrax infection by local people. The matter is being published by media, which panicked the residents. He claimed that more than 73,000 doses of preventive vaccines are in stock at divisional office to distribute within a short time and awareness meeting is also going on in different areas of the region.

 

A source at the divisional livestock office informed that there are more than two million livestock in the division which need at least four million doses of vaccination. Against this demand, only 0.25 million doses were received in last fiscal for the division.

 

Dr Abdul Jabbar Shikdar, Barisal district livestock officer, claimed that no case of anthrax was detected in the district till now.