<i>Beef price tumbles for anthrax fear</i>
Chicken sellers take full advantage
Demand for beef is falling while prices of chickens are soaring as detection of anthrax has sent an alarm among people in districts.
In Khulna city, sale of red meat in over 300 makeshift shops under five police stations has fallen sharply, reports our staff correspondent.
The number of cows and goats slaughtered for sale of red meat has also declined.
Anthrax is a potentially lethal bacterium that exists naturally in the soil and usually infects cattle and goats while grazing in the field. It transmits to human body through intake of meat of the infected cattle or goats, said Khulna district livestock officer Dr. Md. Nizamuddin.
The demand for red meat is gradually declining due to panic over anthrax, said Selim Hossain, joint secretary of Khulna Meat Sellers' Association.
The price of beef has fallen to Tk 200 from Tk 240 per kilogram while mutton to Tk 300 from Tk 350 since last Thursday.
There has so far been no report of anthrax infection in Khulna city and district. Yet, panicked people have stopped buying red meat, said city Mayor Talukder Abdul Khaleque who recently banned slaughtering of cattle in open place to avoid anthrax infection.
Meanwhile, taking advantage of the situation, the sellers of both farmed and non farmed chickens are gradually soaring prices at their will in the city kitchen markets.
President of Khulna city unit of Poultry Farm Association Anisuzzaman admitted raising prices of farmed cocks and hens by over 25 to 30 percent in the last three days soon after the Khulna City Corporation alerted the people about anthrax.
Apart from farmed and non farmed poultry birds, prices of farmed and non farmed eggs have also shot up in retail shops.
Khulna city and nine upazilas of the district have been put on high alert by the livestock department in view of anthrax which is gradually spreading from Sirajganj to different districts including Kushtia.
In Barisal, the demand for beef is falling while demand for chicken increasing following the death of two cows in Bhola and Pirojpur districts allegedly due to anthrax.
Local dailies, such as daily Matabad, Barisal Protidin and daily Dakkhinanchal, recently reported deaths of cows due to anthrax. However, the government officials here denied any such infection.
Barisal City Corporation authorities have no slaughtering house and also no control or supervision over slaughtering process of 26 beef shops, reports UNB.
Shawkat Hossain Hiron, Barisal City Corporation Mayor (BCC), admitting the fact said that construction of a scientific slaughtering house was included in BCC budget of current fiscal year.
BCC also has no veterinary doctor and staffs of livestock and market departments are not much trained enough to detect such kind of disease. So, we sought help from livestock department for prevention and detection of anthrax in the city, the Mayor said.
In this situation, anthrax panic gripped the city dwellers which tumbled down red meat price to Tk 200 a kg from Tk 250 while soaring the prices of broiler to Tk 135 from Tk 120 a kg.
In the city, daily on an average 20 cattle were slaughtered while the number now reduced to 7/8 per day, said Latif Koshai, a butcher at Barisal Puran Bazar beef shop.
Dr. Kamaluddin, acting director of Barisal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital, said that no anthrax infected patient has been admitted to this hospital till now.
On the other hand, reports received from Bhola said that a cow of Khokan Mia at Paschim Charnoabad village in Sadar upazila died of anthrax on Tuesday.
Report from Bara Machua village in Mathbaria upazila of Pirojpur district said that a cow of Delwar Hossain died of anthrax.
However, Dr Mrinal Kanti Mridha, Barisal divisional livestock officer, denied any detection of anthrax in the division.
He said that deaths of livestock in monsoon season by eating poisonous grass, loose motion and other types of infection are being considered as anthrax infection by local people. The matter is being published by media, which panicked the residents.
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