The Greater Accra regional director for environmental health, Douglas Tagoe, has advised the Muslim community to consider using fowls for the celebration of this year’s Eid-ul-Adha.
Tagoe, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the outbreak of anthrax in the country, said such an alternative has become necessary to curb the spread of the disease.
Two communities, Talensi and Binduri, in the Upper East Region recorded cases of anthrax in May. This 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. 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 and goats, or their by-products, are at risk of contracting anthrax.
Although there are rumours that grilling and frying could get rid of the bacteria in the meat, the environmental health director has debunked it. He stated that the bacteria is not visible to the human eye. It can only be detected through laboratory tests, hence the suggestion that the bacteria can be eliminated through cooking is misleading.
Tagoe said cooking infected meat, in most cases, does not kill the bacteria, 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 Prophet Mohammed taught them.
“When buying the livestock, 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,” Tagoe said.
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.
Zubeiru Aliyu, a sheep vendor at the Jamestown cattle market, said the vendors are not aware of the outbreak of any disease in animals, adding that veterinary officers screened all animals before they were sold.
To curtail the spread of the outbreak, the Upper East regional coordinating council has imposed a one-month region-wide prohibition on the transportation of cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, donkeys and their byproducts.
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-ul-Fitr). It honours the willingness of Abraham (Ibrahim) to sacrifice his son Ishmael (Ismail) as an act of obedience to God’s command.
The feast is celebrated annually on the tenth day of Dhu al-Hijjah, on the Islamic calendar. Muslims across the globe mark the day by sacrificing goat, sheep or cattle.
The 2023 Eid-ul-Adha celebration falls on 28 June and marks the culmination of the hajj (pilgrimage) rites at Minā, near Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
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