Agency finds Toxoplasma bacteria in goat meat
Agency finds Toxoplasma bacteria in goat meat
JAKARTA (JP): Are you planning to have goat satay for lunch?
You'd better order it well-done. Otherwise, you might be infected
by a disease carried by animals and infectious to humans, the
city's husbandry agency warns.
The agency found out that goat meat that was not well-cooked
may contain toxoplasma bacteria.
"Pregnant women are particularly susceptible to the bacteria
which can cause miscarriage or birth defects in the unborn," head
of the agency Edy Setiarto told reporters after a hearing with
the City Council Commission B for economic affairs here on
Wednesday.
He said he based his warning on a recent survey which showed
that 42 percent of 500 goats which were tested carried the
bacteria.
Toxoplasma rarely attacks man, he said, adding that goats
infected with the bacteria experienced similar effects to humans.
The survey which is conducted annually was held in July this
year. It showed that more than 200 out of 500 goats were infected
with toxoplasma. The goats were tested randomly from the city's
three slaughter houses in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, in
Mampang, South Jakarta and in Pulogadung, East Jakarta.
"However, we will conduct follow-up laboratory tests to
achieve more solid results, such as pathology and clinical
tests," Edy said.
The July survey applied a serology test on goats' blood serum,
he said.
Asked whether the disease had attacked Jakarta residents, Edy
said his agency had no data about the number of women who had
experienced miscarriages due to toxoplasma.
"I heard that many women who had experienced miscarriages due
to toxoplasma, had been treated in the Cipto Mangunkusumo General
Hospital," he said.
So far, he said, there was no vaccine to prevent toxoplasma.
He called on the public to take extra care in cooking goat's
meat, a favorite food of many Jakartans, saying that it should be
well-cooked.
"Do not consume half-cooked goat satay. Toxoplasma could only
be killed by cooking the meat well," Edy said.
He said he knew that it would be difficult to stop people from
consuming under-cooked goat satay since for some people, it had
become a habit.
Jakarta residents consumed about 2,500 goats and 400 cows a
day.
Earlier in the hearing, Agus Darmawan, a member of the City
Council from the National Mandate Party called on the city
administration to monitor the process of slaughtering the goats.
Origin
Toxoplasma bacteria comes from cat' feces carried by worms, in
leaves and grass. The leaves and grass were then consumed by
goats.
Besides the survey on goats, Edy said, the agency also tested
some 473 cows and found that some 79 of the cows were infected
with brucellae.
"The disease brucellosis could cause miscarriage in cows and
fever in human beings," he said.
About 30 of the 79 cows have been killed while the remaining
49 cows would be studied further.
In February this year, the city was shaken by an anthrax
outbreak which attacked goats and cows.
It first broke out in Hambalang village in Bogor, an area
about 60 kilometers to the south of Jakarta. At least two
villagers had reportedly died in the outbreak.
The husbandry agency once required cattle entering the city to
be vaccinated against anthrax, as a preventive measure,
especially during the Muslim Day of Sacrifice. (jun/hbk)