By Henry Umahi
In June, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, warned Nigerians to desist from consuming bush meat, including rodents and others. This was based on the official confirmation of monkeypox in Nigeria by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on May 29.
A statement signed by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Mohammad Abubakar, referred to the resurgence of monkeypox virus in Nigeria, with 21 persons confirmed by the NCDC to have been infested with the virus, while one death had been recorded by May 29.
Abubakar said: “The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), through the Department of Veterinary and Pest Control Services, is actively collaborating with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and other stakeholders in the One Health Team to ensure the situation is contained and brought under control.
“In view of the above, the FMARD is hereby giving the following advice: People must avoid contact with persons suspected to be infected with monkeypox at home and at workplaces.
“Hunters and dealers of ‘bushmeat’ must desist from the practice, forthwith, to prevent any possibility of ‘spillover’ of the pathogen in Nigeria.
“Transport of wild animals and their products within and across the borders should be suspended/restricted.
“Silos, stores and other agricultural storage facilities must institute active rodent control measures to prevent contact and possible contamination of monkeypox virus with foodstuff.
“All operators of zoos, parks, conservation and recreational centres keeping non-human primates in their domains must ensure strict compliance with their biosecurity protocols aimed at preventing their contacts with humans.
“All veterinary clinics, veterinary teaching hospitals and other veterinary health institutions across the country must ensure vigilance so as to be able to pick possible signs and symptoms of monkeypo in non-human primate (NHP) patients.
“We must also ensure regular handwashing using strong disinfectant anytime we handle NHP and rodents in our various locations.
“We must also discourage the act of consumption, trade and keeping of NHP as well as rodents as pets in our homes.
“The general public is hereby advised to report any pox-like lesions seen on humans or animals to the nearest human or veterinary clinics, respectively.
“Lastly, veterinary epidemiology officers, field surveillance agents and veterinarians should step up their surveillance activities aimed at picking any possible case of monkeypox in animals.”
A publication by WildAid stated: “Exposure to wildlife through habitat encroachment, hunting, eco-tourism, trade (the handling or processing/eating of bush meat) are well-described pathways of pathogen transmission. These human activities may lead to the emergence of pathogens that have been shown, many times, to be deadly when a new host is infected. While 60 per cent of known diseases identified to date in nature are zoonotic, 70 per cent of these diseases originated from wildlife.
“It has been claimed that coronavirus may have been transmitted to humans through a probable pangolin intermediate host of the virus that is known to be found in bats reservoir, premised on a report from Chinese researchers, who found a coronavirus in smuggled pangolins which had a 99 per cent genetic match with the virus currently circulating around the world. However, this similarity is not applicable to the entire genome, but relates only to a specific site, which is known as the receptor-binding domain.”
Investigation revealed that, despite the warning by the minister and the fact that it has been linked to zoonotic diseases like monkeypox, ebola, lassa fever and even COVID-19, the demand for bushmeat has continued to increase, putting the health of many at risk, even as Nigeria’s wildlife population remains threatened. In fact, consumption of bushmeat has become a status symbol because it doesn’t exactly come cheap.
Bushmeat refers to wildlife species killed and consumed. Animals such as pangolin, elephants, gorillas, antelopes, grass-cutters, porcupines, crocodiles and turtles, among others, are often poached and their meat consumed by people. Some of them are even sold alive. Along highways, you see dried or fresh animals being displayed. There are also active bushmeat markets around the country.
The ecosystem is being destroyed as a result of adverse environmental practices, including deforestation through hunting expeditions, which have almost rendered wildlife extinct.
Besides the local demand, there is also a global demand for bushmeat.
It was gathered that, in 2020, WildAid surveyed 2,000 people in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Calabar. It found that 71 per cent of participants had consumed bushmeat at some point in their lives, and 45 per cent had consumed it within that year.
In November 2021, Azibaola Robert, a lover of the environment, embarked on an expedition: exploration of the Niger Delta rainforests.
After about 14 days in the forest, Azibaola came out a sad man. The wildlife had depleted so much.
Presenting his report to his kinsmen, Azibaola said: “As a tradition, Ogbia people don’t eat foxes. Now, I go into the forest and there are no foxes there. Our forefathers knew that, if you eat them, they would go extinct. That was why they were never eaten then.
“When I was a child, I saw pangolins in our forests and, right now, you can’t get them again. It’s a contraband in the world right now. We need to do something about it.
“We’ve already domesticated animals that we can eat as against going into the deep forests for bush meat; we need to leave deep forest animals in the forest. We shouldn’t let nature give us meat to eat. It means we’re killing wildlife and the inheritance given to us by our forefathers.”
Azibaola, with the cooperation of the Ogbia community of Bayelsa State, hopes to develop strategies to conserve the environment.
Offering insight into the situation, a veterinary doctor, Dr. Mark Ofua, said: “In a country such as Nigeria where little or no mind is paid to conservation of its biodiversity, the wildlife is in dire straits.
“Local extinction of species is occurring at an alarming rate. Our forests and savannahs once replete with fauna and flora have since been depleted to levels where some can no longer recover and local extinction of such is recorded annually.
“Illegal and uncontrolled consumption of local wildlife as bushmeat, illegal pet trade and habitat loss due to illegal logging of our forests are among the forefront of factors driving this crisis. It is so severe that all so often different animals are moved up the red list of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) and these for the animals we can keep track of.”
On the reason for the consumption and trade in wildlife products, Ofua explained: “The consumption and trade in wildlife and wildlife products is driven primarily by the bushmeat trade and the illegal pet trade. The bushmeat trade and bushmeat consumption has cultural trends in it. Bushmeat consumption itself is driven by elitist trade. The poor man and bushmeat hunter cannot afford to eat bushmeat. The cheapest bushmeat, the grasscutter, sells for about the price of four chickens. He would rather sell the grasscutter he caught to be able to buy the chickens to feed his family. It is the urban elite who has developed the taste for bushmeat and can afford it, therefore, who drives the trade.
“The illegal pet trade has been linked to criminal gangs and drug cartels and even terrorist organisations because of the volume of money involved and its transborder nature.”
On what can be done to ensure there is reduction in bushmeat consumption in Nigeria, the vet doctor said: “Some argue that bushmeat consumption is a cultural thing and cannot be erased. I’m quick to point out to them that human sacrifices and killing of twins was once cultural! We did away with these deleterious aspects of culture once we found out it was inimical to our well-being. Also, we can reduce and completely bring to a halt this inordinate consumption of bushmeat in order to safeguard our biodiversity and our health and livelihood.
“Extant laws protecting our wildlife must be re-evaluated to ensure they’re relevant. New laws should be put in place to better protect endangered species and to promote recovery of depleted species.
“Conservation education must be inculcated into our primary and secondary education in order to reset the mindset of the younger generation with a bid to raise a generation that is highly aware of its environment and the need to protect such.
“Our relevant law enforcement agencies charged with the protection of the environment must be revamped and officers trained properly on enforcing the laws.
“The government should also partner with relevant non-governmental organizations to ensure a wholistic approach to the protection of our biodiversity.”
He further explained: “Dangers involved in the trading and consumption of bushmeat are those that threatens our very existence.
“Over 65 per cent of existing human diseases originate from wild animals; 40 per cent of new and emerging diseases are of animal origin. The world is still reeling from the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lassa fever has killed more people in Nigeria than even the COVID-19 virus. Currently, the world is running a race to curtail the current outbreak of monkeypox virus. Ebola scourge is still fresh in our minds. All these diseases have been traced back to animal origins. Our unholy fondness for bushmeat and ties to the bushmeat trade and illegal pet trade have exposed us to these diseases. We do not have innate immunity for these diseases and our medicines and technologies are sore challenged to keep up with outbreaks. The possibility of a next pandemic breaking out of africa or a third world country is bonechilling.
“Food security is sorely threatened by biodiversity loss. Extremes of temperatures flooding, and other natural disasters are all tied to our unchecked activities and intrusion into the environment.
“Indeed, if we care for the human race and our livelihood and wellbeing we must if a necessity rises up to the task at hand and declare a stand to protect our environment and its rich biodiversity.”