Meat hygiene is of paramount importance in the red meat value chain because of meat borne diseases. Meat borne diseases refers to conditions that originates from consuming diseased meat. Meat borne diseases can be of various origins such as bacteria, viral, parasitic and also allergens. It is important to note that 60% of pathogens that affect man are from animals, this is referred to as zoonosis. The implication of this is that our association with animals make us susceptible to certain diseases which can easily be prevented with the right knowledge. The failure to carry out the right action is the cause of several unexplainable deaths and chronic conditions.

1. THE PUBLIC HEALTH IMPORTANCE OF
IMPROVING THE RED MEAT VALUE CHAIN
.
BY DR ECHBEE

2. OBJECTIVES
• To expose the health implications of purchasing and
selling diseased meat and meat products.
• To show how our actions and inactions are
destroying our future and the future of the meat
industry.
• To showcase the benefits of improving our current
standards to international level.

3. PUBLIC HEALTH IMPORTANCE OF MEAT
HYGIENE.
• Meat hygiene is of paramount importance in the red
meat value chain because of meat borne diseases.
• Meat borne diseases refers to conditions that
originates from consuming diseased meat.
• Meat borne diseases can be of various origins such as
bacteria, viral, parasitic and also allergens.

4. PUBLIC HEALTH IMPORTANCE OF MEAT
HYGIENE.
• It is important to note that 60% of pathogens that
affect man are from animals, this is referred to as
zoonosis.
• The implication of this is that our association with
animals make us susceptible to certain diseases
which can easily be prevented with the right
knowledge.
• The failure to carry out the right action is the cause
of several unexplainable deaths and chronic
conditions.

5. PUBLIC HEALTH IMPORTANCE OF MEAT
HYGIENE.
• The simple process of hand washing plays a significant
role in meat hygiene.
• The meat borne diseases have certain common
symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting, headache and
muscular pains.
• These diseases could be acute or chronic and some
are debilitating.
• The commonality of the first signs of the disease and
lack of proper tracking of the onset makes people
attribute other causes to the disease.

6. PUBLIC HEALTH IMPORTANCE OF MEAT
HYGIENE.
• There are a handful of meat borne diseases but I will
pick out some we can easily come across in the
market.
• Tuberculosis, Fascioliasis, Taeniasis, Hydatidosis, and
Meaty liver.
• These conditions can easily be observed in carcasses
but failure to destroy them before they get to the
food chain is the problem.

7. TUBERCULOSIS.
• Bovine tuberculosis a major source of human
tuberculosis in Nigeria. According to recent reports
Nigeria ranks 4th in TB infection worldwide. Statistics
also shows that 80% of TB cases in Nigeria are
undetected and it claims 1.2 million lives annually.
• Tuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium spp is usually
transmitted by aerosol route when one comes into
contact with droplets of infected persons. The bacteria
can also be transmitted through consumption of
products from infected animals such as beef and
unpasteurized milk.

8. A bovine carcass showing tubercules
characteristicof tuberculosis infection

9. LIVER SHOWING YELLOW CHESSY TUBERCULES
DIAGNOSTIC OF TUBERCULOSIS INFECTION.

10. TUBERCULES IN THE LUNGS.

11. TUBERCULOSIS.
• Butchers often refer to lungs with TB as "fuku
elegusi" and in a bid to convince you its okay, they
cut part of the raw meat and eat it.
• This singular act by butchers has caused deaths of
many of them who eventually develop tuberculosis,
which is usually generalized.
• When you go to the market and you see this don’t
buy it, sometimes it can even be soaked in blood
don’t buy.

12. FASCIOLIASIS.
• Accidental ingestion of flukes from infected liver is
very common in developing countries.
• Butchers usually cut up affected liver in strips to cut
out the white tracts formed by the flukes.
• This is usually called “Eedo oni ishan”, they sell to
food vendors and people who want meat that you
chew for long before swallowing.

13. FASCIOLIASIS.

14. FASCIOLIASIS.
• Acute phase: The immature worms penetrate the
intestinal wall and the peritoneum, the protective
membrane surrounding the internal organs .
• The worms puncture the liver surface and eat their
way through its tissues until they reach the bile
ducts. This invasion kills the liver cells and causes
intense internal bleeding.
• Typical symptoms include fever, nausea, a swollen
liver, skin rashes and extreme abdominal pain and
inflammation.

15. FASCIOLIASIS.
• Chronic phase. The chronic phase begins when the
worms reach the bile ducts, where they mature and
start producing eggs. These eggs are released into
the bile and reach the intestine, where they are
evacuated in feces, thereby completing the
transmission cycle.
• Symptoms include intermittent pain, jaundice,
anemia, pancreatitis and gallstones.
• Patients with chronic infections experience
hardening of the liver (fibrosis) .

16. FASCIOLIASIS.
• In long-term infections, the fluke sometimes migrates
from the liver to the eye and nervous tissue.
• The migration causes neurological signs such as
tremors/seizures .
• Ocular lesions arise from migration to the eyes,
where there is occasional moving out of fluke from
orbit.

17. FASCIOLIASIS.

18. TAINTED CATTLE HIDE
• Tainted cattle hide if consumed can cause liver
disease and in extreme cases death.
• The “Ebola ponmo” falls in this category, where hide
that has been fixed with formalin intended for
leather industry found their way into the food chain.
• Cattle hide that is from a diseased animal is also
sometimes found in the value chain.

19. TAINTED CATTLE HIDE.
• Cattle hide is actually a delicacy in our part of the
world. This could be a public health risk if the hide is
diseased, as the processing method might taint the
appearance.

20. HYDATIDOSIS.
• Cystic echinococcosis is one of the most widespread
zoonoses, causing morbidity and mortality in humans
and huge economic losses in livestock.
• It is caused by metacestodes of the tapeworm
Echinococcus granulosus. The metacestodes cause
hydatid cysts in the lungs, liver and other organs of
intermediate hosts.

21. HYDATIDOSIS.

22. MEATY LIVER.
• Animals have inflamed organs in the course of
certain infections.
• These parts must not enter the food chain.

23. MEAT FRAUD.
• This is actually a part of a bigger scam called food
fraud.
• The basic thing operators do is to change the quality
of meat by infiltrating with blood, water and
sometimes blowing air into lungs.
• The quality of the beef is compromised because of
weight advantage.
• Transmission of infection is also possible, as
whatever the person blowing into the lung is carrying
its deposited in the organ.

24. MEAT FRAUD.
• Alteration of carcass.

25. MEAT FRAUD.

26. MEAT AND HUMAN HEALTH.
• Animal health is human health ,so we have to be careful
the way we handle animals.
• Farm to fork monitoring is very vital to ensure
wholesome beef is available to the populace.
• The animal pathogens that affect man through
consumption of their products and byproducts, hence
proper handling, processing and packaging are very
essential.
• Food handling plays a vital role in food safety and every
protocol to ensure that meat is wholesome and fit for
human consumption must be put in place.

27. MEAT AND HUMAN HEALTH.
• Meat presented for sale must be clean, odorless,
with no swellings/pus exuding.
• Meat must be hygienically processed and packaged
before being adjudged wholesome and fit for human
consumption.
• Meat that has a color change or has its conformation
changed should not be purchased.

28. WHOLESOME MEAT.

29. WHOLESOME MEAT.
• Meat presented for sale must have following qualities:
• It must be clean.
• It must have no odor/foul smell.
• There should be no lumps, pustules or swellings .
• There should be no holes/tunnel with flukes.
• There should be no discharge of any fluid/pus .
• It must not give off any color-tinged fluid when pressed.
• It must maintain original color.
Meat must be processed at proper temperature as exposure of
meat to environmental elements such as dust ,flies, and
excessive exposure to sun affect the quality of meat with
resultantimpact on human health.

30. STRATEGY.
• Ensure only certified animals fit for consumption
enter the value chain.
• Carcasses procured must have a certificate of health
with a meat receipt.
• Supply vendors must give full disclosure of clients .
• Supply merchants must furnish the vet officers of
their chosen abattoir a 24 hr notice of intention of
slaughter.

31. STRATEGY.
• Supply vendors engaging in sharp practices will be
prosecuted alongside any officer that passed the
beef.
• A public announcement of the incidence will be
made thus blacklisting such vendor.
• Any market where the prevalence of sharp practices
are high will be closed.

32. STRATEGY.
• A database of suppliers with their clients will be
generated.
• A rating/ scoring system will be put in place to ensure
only competent hands are in the meat industry.
• A standard HACCP plan for supply merchants will be
generated and there must be 100% compliance.

33. STRATEGY.
• Training and retraining of all stakeholders in the value
chain will be a continuous exercise.
• The database pool will give a picture of the
compliance status and readiness for international
market.
• An association of operators with standard operating
procedures will be the drive for the international
market.
• Encourage more partnerships in the red meat value
chain.

34. STRATEGY.
• The export potential for beef is very huge and
tapping into the multibillion dollar market will only
be possible with these reforms.

35. STRATEGY.
• Changing the red meat value chain is a collective
effort.
• All hands must be on deck to revamp the sector.
• The progress of the industry lies in our hands, lets all
do our part to ensure only wholesome beef is sold to
the populace.