Malawi ponders meat ban over listeria

Malawi is on high alert of listeria, which has claimed 180 lives in South Africa, with the Ministry of Health (MoH) and other stakeholders pondering a ban on meat products from that country.

This follows an order by the South African government for immediate recall of the country’s processed meat products which when contaminated and consumed cause listeria.

The BBC yesterday reported that Namibia, Mozambique, Botswana and Zambia have also ordered a recall of ready-to-eat meat products such as polony, russians, viennas, cold meat, ham, sausages, meat spreads, corned meat, salami, pepperoni and most refrigerated uncooked food which are produced by Tiger BrandsUnit-Enterprise Food and RCL Foods.

But in an interview yesterday, MoH spokesperson Joshua Malango said Malawians should not panic as government has put in place measures to avoid the outbreak from spreading locally.

“Malawi is very safe and there is no cause to panic. We are sure this won’t hit the country but if it does we are ready to deal with it. We have the medication and expertise in our facilities.

“We advise people to report to their nearest health facilities once they have strange feelings or signs like fever, muscle ache, headache, confusion, nausea and diarrhoea,” he advised.

Malango said, the ministry has engaged several stakeholders like Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) and Agriculture Ministry on a number of issues including the possibility of banning meat products from South Africa.

“Within this week, the minister responsible will update the nation on a number of issues that we will do and is doing to ensure that the outbreak doesn’t hit the nation,” he added.

Meanwhile, MBS has started inspecting processed meat outlets to establish if the products have been withdrawn from the market and destroyed.

In an interview, MBS director general Davlin Chokazinga said the bureau deployed its officers yesterday to inspect all supermarkets across the country as a precautionary measure.

“We are restricting imports of the same in our borders. We are also taking samples of the processed meat coming from the region for testing to protect consumers,” he said.

In a statement issued yesterday, the Competition and Fair Trading Commission (CFTC) has also urged retailers, wholesalers and distributors of South African-made meat products to immediately withdraw them from their shelves for safe disposal if they fall under the category that has been banned in that country.

The South African government is blaming polony for the listeria poisoning, and believes it originated in a factory in Polokwane.

There have been 948 cases of listeria poisoning in South Africa reported since January 2017 which the United Nations calls the largest outbreak ever.

According to online sources, listeriosis is a bacterial infection caused by listeria monocytogenes. It causes flu-like symptoms, nausea, diarrhoea and infection of the blood stream and brain.

People become infected by eating foods contaminated with the bacteria. It is treated with antibiotics like ampicillin.