Ponmo, Anthrax In Unholy Alliance

They Could Combine To Send Many To Early Grave, Say Profs. Babalola, Ezeibe

Anthrax, a disease that affects animals, has become a serious threat to humans as well. Currently, there is an outbreak of the disease in some neighbouring countries, especially in Northern Ghana where it is said to be ravaging her people. Northern Ghana borders Burkina Faso and Togo, and Nigerians have been told to be on the lookout. But what has this got to do with ponmo? This report by ISIOMA MADIKE, tells more from the perspective of experts

The recent warning by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture over a looming deadly animal disease, anthrax, said to be ravaging some neighbouring West African countries has continued to generate reactions among Nigeria’s medical experts.

The warning created more fear and panic among the populace when the statement advised strongly against the consumption of cow skin, popularly known as ponmo, smoked meat and bush meat. Ponmo, taken as a delicacy by many in their daily diet and typically prepared with pepper, is delicious and has, overtime, become so popular and favourite of many Nigerians.

A regular sight at parties, it is a preferred alternative for some. In fact, no “assorted” is complete without ponmo. This is the reason many resisted the ban when the government mooted the idea about three years ago.

A Public Health Professor and former president, Guild of Medical Directors, Olufemi Babalola, called anthrax a serious infectious disease caused by gram-positive, rod-shaped bacteria known as bacillus anthracis.

It occurs naturally, according to him, in soil and commonly affects domestic and wild animals around the world. Babalola said that people can get sick with anthrax if they come in contact with infected animals or contaminated animal products.

Anthrax, the professor added, can cause severe illness in both humans and animals. He said: “People get infected with anthrax when spores get into the body. When anthrax spores get inside the body, they can be ‘activated.’

The bacteria can then multiply, spread out in the body, produce toxins, and cause severe illness. “This can happen when people breathe in spores, eat food or drink water contaminated with spores, or get spores in a cut in the skin.

“Note that people don’t get anthrax from other people, like COVID, TB or HIV. Anthrax is most common in agricultural regions of Central and South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Central and southwestern Asia, Southern and Eastern Europe, and the Caribbean.

“Domestic and wild animals can become infected when they breathe in or ingest spores in contaminated soil, plants, or water. These animals can include cattle, sheep, goats, antelope, and deer. “In areas where domestic animals have had anthrax in the past, routine vaccination can help prevent outbreaks.”

He added: “Inhalation anthrax can occur when a person inhales spores that are in the air (aerosolized) during the industrial processing of contaminated materials, such as wool, hides, or hair. Cutaneous anthrax can occur when workers, who handle contaminated animal products, get spores in a cut or a scratch on their skin.

“Also people who eat raw or undercooked meat from infected animals may get sick with gastrointestinal anthrax. “This usually occurs in countries where livestock are not routinely vaccinated against anthrax and food animals are not inspected prior to slaughter.”

Babalola said that all types of anthrax infection can be treated with antibiotics, including intravenous antibiotics (medicine given through the vein). If someone has symptoms of anthrax, it’s important, he advised, to get medical care as quickly as possible to have the best chances of a full recovery.

The professor listed those at risk of contracting it to include peo- ple who work around animals, and those who inhale spore-laden air when working around animals. He then advised vaccination of animals as well as susceptible humans against anthrax.

Similarly, a Professor of Veterinary Medicine and Clinical Virology at the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umuahia, Maduike Ezeibe, confirmed that anthrax is a bacterial disease but that it’s treatable unlike viral diseases, which are “incurable”.

Mode of infection for anthrax, he added, is via contamination of wounds (on the body or on mucous membranes of the mouth and of the other parts of the gastrointestinal tract) makes it difficult for the dis- ease to qualify as a pandemic.

Pandemics, according to Ezeibe, occur because of the mode of transmission of their infections. He however said that infections transmitted by inhalation are difficult to avoid once infected persons or animals are around because susceptible people cannot avoid breathing.

“Infections that are transmitted by physical contact can also lead to pandemics because unsuspecting persons can easily have contact with infected persons but bacillus anthracis, which requires open wounds to establish, is very difficult to cause pandemics.

“The people, who were affected in Ghana, are those who processed and/or ate dead cattle. To avoid this, proper inspection of animals by qualified Veterinary doctors before they are slaughtered and inspection of their meat before they are sold for food is very important,” he said.

He went on to say that Nigeria should activate all control posts so that animals coming into the country are professionally inspected before they come in. All abattoirs in the country, he also said, should ensure that cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and other animals are inspected by qualified veterinary doctors before and after slaughter.

Ezeibe said: “Meat should be properly cooked and those processing meat either in the kitchen or in the abattoir should ensure open wounds are not contaminated. Anthrax is a vaccine preventable disease. So, Nigerian livestock should be vaccinated against anthrax to guide against spillover from other countries.

“Our hospitals should also add anthrax as a possible diagnosis in persons that come with fever, especially those that have a history of close contact with animals and/ or animal products.”

Another Veterinarian doctor, Olufemi Aroso, emphatically advised people to keep away from ponmo, saying there should be total abstinence from its consumption to curtail the spread of anthrax. He also advised that those from neighbouring countries coming into Nigeria should be checked at the borders before gaining access into the country.

According to him, the government is particular about preventing the anthrax outbreak from spreading into Nigeria. Aroso said: “When there is an anthrax outbreak, the problem is that persons who own the infected animals want to quickly sell off their animals.

A whole family may die from this disease even though there is a vaccination to purge the animals. “The best way to control it is to make a public announcement about the outbreak as a strategy to curb the infection.”

Adebayo Onajole, a Professor and Consultant Public Health Physician at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), had earlier said that anthrax is a bacteria and a disease that affects cows, donkeys and others.

Onajole, who is also an epidemiologist, had noted that when people who kill animals and process them get infected with anthrax they can spread the infection to others. He said that the people who process slaughtered animals are at risk because they are in direct contact with animals hence could get anthrax from infected animals.

Others, who could also be at risk of the anthrax infection, are people who work in livestock farms, he added. The professor stated that those who go to the abattoir to buy raw ponmo are also at risk of infection, saying as they come in contact with it, they could get infected.

“This is to say that they can be transferred from animals to man. Anthrax produces poisons; that is why it is a bacterium and can decimate populations. It can be used for biological warfare and it is also one of the things that people are worried about. It can affect a whole population and kills fast.

“The message we want to give is that the animals need to be treated. People who come close to animal slaughter houses need to be careful. They need to be covered and wear nose masks to be protected so as not to get infected.

There should be environmental sanitation as a norm both in the communities and at home. “You have more at risk persons among the groups highlighted above. Others that may be at risk of anthrax infection are the nomads because they work in slaughterhouses.

People who deal with the skin of animals and people who buy fresh cow skin and process them in their houses are also at risk,” he said. However, he claimed that processed cow skin which goes through heat through processing may have had the bacteria in them destroyed.

The epidemiologist also said that those who indirectly have access to fresh or live animals that are infected are similarly at risk. He therefore advised people to reduce contact with animals because “we don’t know whether they are infected or not.

“The advice is to carry out safety procedures; putting on face masks and then animals should be treated by veterinary doctors because these professionals are the ones that will know how to handle them,” the professor said, explaining that the ministry sounded the alarm because of the anthrax outbreak coming from Burkina Faso and Northern Ghana, all of which are close to Nigeria.

He added: “People get infected and spread the infection to our countries from there. People will also travel by road or air and may contract the anthrax infection.” Recall that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development had sounded an alert to stop eating ponmo, bush meat and smoked meat in order to avoid a possible outbreak of anthrax.

The ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Ernest Umakhihe, had said that anthrax, an infectious disease, had attacked animals in Northwest Ghana bothering Burkina Faso and Togo. He had also warned against the consumption of sick and dead animals.

Umakhihe had explained that ponmo and other animals, domestic and wild inclusive, had been linked to the outbreak of anthrax, which is an infectious disease that can, according to him, become fatal if left untreated.

He had, in a statement, said: “The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development hereby alert the general public on the outbreak of Anthrax in some neighbouring countries within the West African Sub-Region; specifically, Northern Ghana bordering Burkina Faso and Togo.

The disease, which has claimed some lives, is a bacterial disease that affects both animals and man, that is a zoonotic disease. Anthrax spores are naturally found in the soil and commonly affect domestic and wild animals.

“People can get infected with anthrax spores if they come in contact with infected animals or contaminated animal products. However, Anthrax is not a contagious disease and so, one cannot get it by coming in close contact with an infected person.

“Signs of anthrax are flu-like symptoms such as cough, fever, muscle aches and if not diagnosed and treated early, lead to pneumonia, severe lung problems, difficulty in breathing, shock and death. Be- ing a bacterial disease, it responds to treatment with antibiotics and supportive therapy.

“The general public is strongly advised to desist from the consumption of hides (ponmo), smoked meat and bush meat as they pose serious risks until the situation is brought under control.

“Meanwhile, the public is urged to remain calm and vigilant as the Federal Government has resuscitated a Standing Committee on the Control of Anthrax in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

“Furthermore, relevant institutions and collaborators have been contacted with the aim of controlling the outbreak. This is in addition to the sensitisation of state directors of veterinary services nationwide.”

Symptoms

•Inhalation anthrax begins with flu-like symptoms (cough, fever, muscle aches). These symptoms may last two to three days, and then appear to go away for one or two days. Then the illness can come back, resulting in severe lung problems, difficulty in breathing, and shock.

•Inhalation anthrax symptoms specifically can include: Fever and chills, chest discomfort, shortness of breath, confusion or dizziness, cough, nausea, vomiting, or stomach pains. •Others are headache and sweats (often drenching).

Diagnosis

Your doctor will ask you what kind of work you do, along with other questions to determine the likelihood of your having been exposed to anthrax. He or she will first want to rule out other more-common conditions that may be causing your signs and symptoms, such as flu (influenza) or pneumonia.

Tests

You may have a rapid flu test to quickly diagnose a case of influenza. If other tests are negative, you may have further tests to look specifically for anthrax, such as skin testing.

A sample of fluid from a suspicious lesion on your skin or a small tissue sample (biopsy) may be tested in a lab for signs of cutaneous anthrax; blood tests. You may have a small amount of blood drawn that’s checked in a lab for anthrax bacteria. Chest X-ray or computerised tomography (CT) scans is also advised.

Your doctor may request a chest X-ray or CT scan to help diagnose inhalation anthrax; stool testing. To diagnose gastrointestinal anthrax, your doctor may check a sample of your stool for anthrax bacteria. There is also a spinal tap (lumbar puncture).

In this test, your doctor inserts a needle into your spinal canal and withdraws a small amount of fluid. A spinal tap is recommended any time doctors suspect systemic anthrax—anthrax other than cutaneous—due to the possibility of meningitis.

Treatment

The standard treatment for anthrax is an antibiotic such as ciprofloxacin (Cipro), doxycycline (Vibramycin) or levofloxacin.

A single antibiotic or combination of antibiotics, and the length of treatment, will be most effective for one depending on how one was infected with anthrax, age, overall health and other factors. Treatment is most effective when started as soon as possible.