Officials silent over toxoplasma in goat meat

Officials silent over toxoplasma in goat meat

JAKARTA (JP): After announcing its finding that 42 percent of
500 goats slaughtered in Jakarta were infected with toxoplasma
bacteria, City Husbandry Agency officials kept silent on the
problem on Thursday.

The agency's head Edy Setiarto could not be reached since his
telephone was constantly engaged, while his subordinates refused
to comment on the matter.

City Spokesman Muhayat told reporters to speak to Edy
directly, refusing to comment further, since it was a technical
matter that ought to be discussed with the agency.

The agency said on Wednesday, that based on its survey in July
this year, it had found that 42 percent of the 500 tested goats
had been infected by the bacteria.

Separately, City Health Agency spokeswoman Jessy Widiastuti
claimed that there were no reports on the number of toxoplasma
patients from hospitals. "So far there is no significant number
of patients suffering from toxoplasma," Jessy told The Jakarta
Post.

She said that patients that had suffered miscarriage because
of the bacteria had probably been treated in private hospitals
and clinics.

She claimed that Jakarta residents so far were not really
concerned about toxoplasma disease, although it had been known
about for years. "However, we will include the toxoplasma disease
in our health campaign soon," Jessy said.

Meanwhile, Minister of Health Achmad Sujudi warned of the
dangers of toxoplasma bacteria, saying that the disease caused by
the bacteria had a 20 percent mortality rate.

"We have to be very concerned and prevent it because the
disease is very dangerous, it carries a mortality rate of 20
percent," Sujudi said on Thursday after a Cabinet meeting.

The minister called on the husbandry director general at the
ministry of agriculture to immediately prevent the meat from
entering the market and identify the livestock units where the
sick animals originated or that contained the bacteria.

"The only way to prevent the spread is by stopping the
distribution of the meat. It is up to the ministry of agriculture
to take the necessary preventive measures," Sujudi further
remarked.

He emphasized that he had not yet received any reports of
people catching the disease because of the meat and still awaited
a report from the ministry of agriculture on the cases.

"We have not yet had any data on the people that have caught
the disease because of the meat and are still awaiting the
report. All we know is that there is some goat meat containing
the bacteria," the minister added.

Men as well

Separately, Santoso Cornain, the head of laboratory of
immunology of the University of Indonesia, said that once the
toxoplasma parasite entered the human body it remained there.

He said the bacteria was transmitted to the human body by
consuming food, including goat meat, infected with the toxoplasma
bacteria.

Santoso said either men or women could be infected by the
toxoplasma, and if they did not get medical treatment early, it
could cause reproductive problems.

"A woman could suffer a miscarriage after two months of
pregnancy or have difficulties in conceiving if she were infected
by toxoplasma," he said, adding that for men it could cause
infertility.

He said the bacteria would not cause health problems as long
as a person was in good health because the parasite would be
controlled by the body's immune system. But since it remained in
the human body, it could always attack people whenever their
immune system was not functioning properly.

"It attacks not only the reproductive system. It can attack
other parts of the human body, depending on which parts are weak
when the bacteria attack. That's why it can cause blindness," he
said.

He suggested that married couples who wanted to conceive ought
to undergo a toxoplasma check before proceeding.

Santoso advised people not to consume any raw or half-cooked
food if they had any doubt about its hygiene.

According to the laboratory's data, from about 2000 of its
patients per year, 67 percent, men and women, are infected with
the parasite.

Santoso said that most toxoplasma cases were found in
households that had a pet cat.

"Although the toxoplasma parasite can be found anywhere, it is
commonly found in cats as their intestines react very quickly to
the bacteria, such that their feces contain the parasite "
Santoso said. (06/jun/dja)