The possibility of the 117 buffaloes that drowned recently in the Kabulabula conservancy area being infected with anthrax does not bother the dozens of Zambezi residents who rushed to collect a piece of the wild meat.
The buffaloes drowned in the Chobe River on 27 October due to a stampede caused by being chased by lions from the Botswana side.
When news broke of the mass drowning of buffaloes, people drove up to 90 kilometres from Katima Mulilo and surrounding villages on the bad roads of the floodplains to ensure they did not miss out on the meat.
Eventually, it was decided that 67 of the buffaloes would be given to conservancy members, while 50 would be distributed to community members.
Residents who spoke to The Namibian yesterday, said all they could think about was the possibility of scoring free meat, not that it could be infected with anthrax.
“It’s a local delicacy for us and it’s not readily available. However, we prefer it more than we do beef. It was a blessing for us from God to have meat for November. The buffaloes being infected with anthrax does not worry us as long as we thoroughly cook it. We have eaten them so many times without any problems,” said Miyano Liswaniso.
Resident Nicolas Chaka said he grew up eating buffalo meat at cultural festivals, so getting it for free in bulk is a rare occasion that is not to be missed.
“I like the way it tastes compared to other wild meat, especially when it’s dried. Also, eating it reminds me of my ancestors, as they used to eat it. I am afraid that it might have anthrax, but we hope to God that it’s not the case. We can’t let the meat go to waste, seeing that it drowned and did not die of an illness,” he said.
Others like Chrispin Simasiku said he did not consume the meat, not because it possibly had anthrax but because the animals drowned.
“I believe that an animal should be slaughtered to be consumed, so I was not interested in getting a share of the buffalo meat. However, I’m glad that others who are not necessarily bothered by how the animal died are enjoying it. Some of them who got whole carcasses won’t be buying meat for the next month or so,” he said.
Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform spokesperson Jona Musheko, responding to questions from The Namibian yesterday, said they cannot advise anyone to consume any meat products that have not been slaughtered under their supervision at abattoirs.
He said anthrax eggs are able to exist in the soil for over 100 years once they are detected.
“We cannot advise anyone to eat meat that we did not supervise under our veterinary services. The public is consuming the buffalo meat in their own capacity,” he said.
In 2018, over 400 buffaloes drowned in the same way in the Kabulabula conservancy area, where hundreds of people also took advantage of the free meat.
Zambezi residents normally enjoy buffalo, hippo and sometimes even elephant meat at annual cultural festivals or when the environment ministry donates them for attendees to be fed.
According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention website, anthrax is a serious infectious disease caused by the bacillus anthracis which commonly occurs in soil. It’s known to affect domestic and wild animals. However, humans can get sick with anthrax if they come in contact with infected animals or contaminated animal products.
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