Prime News Ghana

Listeriosis alert: FDA warns of infected meat from South Africa

By Maame Aba Afful
Listeriosis alert: FDA warns of infected meat from South Africa
Listeriosis alert: FDA warns of infected meat from South Africa
Shares
facebook sharing button Share
twitter sharing button Tweet
email sharing button Email
sharethis sharing button Share

The Food and Drugs Authority, FDA has issued an alert for Ghanaians to be cautious of meat imported from South Africa following the outbreak of Listeriosis.

The FDA in a statement has said that it has intensified market surveillance and is strictly monitoring the ports of entry for such meat products.

"Following news of the outbreak of Listeriosis in South Africa, the Food and Drugs Authority has intensified market surveillance and monitoring at the ports of entry for meat products from South Africa.

According to the FDA, the alert was shared with them by the International Network of Food Safety Authorities on the cause of the Listeriosis outbreak.

"Update from INFOSAN indicated that investigations conducted by the South African Authorities on the outbreak revealed that ready-to-eat (RTE) processed meat products produced by Enterprise Foods in Polokwane, South Africa (a subsidiary of the Tiger Brands Company) are responsible for the outbreak. The affected RTE products are now subject to recall.”

As Ghana is a known export country for Enterprise Foods, the FDA has issued a directive that no imports should be made from the said company. They have also moved to detain and destroy any ready-to-eat processed meat product produced by the South African company.

The South African government on Thursday disclosed that the death toll from the listeriosis outbreak has doubled from previous numbers given in January to 172 deaths.

The National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) said 915 cases of the disease have been confirmed since January last year, up from the previous figures given last month of 61 deaths and 720 confirmed outbreaks.

Listeriosis is food poisoning caused by eating food contaminated with Listeria Monocytogenes which affects meat and dairy products, fruits and vegetables.

The infection according to medical practitioners, results in miscarriage among pregnant women, causes premature delivery, causes serious infection to newborns, and even leads to stillbirth.

 https://www.primenewsghana.com/general-news.htmlÂ