Health hazards to the small ruminant population of the Middle East posed by the trade of sheep and goat meat.

Abstract

Meat consumers in the Middle East traditionally prefer meat from freshly slaughtered animals to that from chilled or frozen carcasses. Consequently, meat trade in the Middle East is based mainly upon the importation of large quantities of live animals rather than of sheep and goat carcasses. Furthermore, as it seems that pathogens remain viable for longer periods of time in live animals than in meat, the probability of pathogens spreading in the Middle East as a result of contaminated small ruminant carcasses is lower than the probability of pathogens being imported through live animals. With suitable environmental conditions, however, there are two livestock diseases which may spread through meat, namely: foot and mouth disease (FMD) and transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). Foot and mouth disease virus which might have survived in the bones and offal of animals slaughtered in FMD-infected areas may be transmitted to animals in other regions. This occurs if carcass waste matter is not properly disposed of and is a particular problem where scavenging animals may carry away the infective material. Due to the low standards in garbage and sewage collection methods in many regions of the Middle East, such an eventuality should never be overlooked. Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies may be introduced into sensitive animal populations if the waste matter of slaughtered sheep and goats is processed into animal feed. This would occur if animal products which have not undergone treatment to inactivate the scrapie agent are used in the rendering process. The risk of introducing TSEs into livestock populations of the Middle East in this way is very low, since the rendering technology and the use of animal waste matter as feed are not part of the local traditional husbandry practices.