After Lions Tested Positive, How Safe Is Eating Meat?

The nervousness and fear swelled within every meat eater after eight lions tested positive for coronavirus in Hyderabad. Though there has been no evidence that non-veg foods can be a source of coronavirus transmission to humans so far, we are still witnessing a downfall in meat and chicken sales from the past couple of weeks. Added to that, the latest news on lions became fodder to scepticism.

The meat traders argue that just like any other food bought from a restaurant, even meat is fit for consumption, provided it is purchased under certain hygienic circumstances. The fear of spreading the outbreak is making people adopt extreme measures like banning non-veg, seafood, and meat from their homes.

Back in the first wave, the WHO often reiterated that one can eat meat by cooking it well. Just because the virus originated from a poultry market in Wuhan, it does not mean you have to give up on non-vegetarian, dairy, or poultry production.

But, after lions contracted the virus, the doubts have been triggered, leaving traders upset over their business profits. Last year, a huge number of poultry traders faced devastating losses in villages at the time of bird flu spread.

The question arose that the lions, in spite of living remotely from the population, have been contracted the virus, thus making it unchallenging for birds and animals living with the public to get transmitted. Talking on the issue, Director Veterinary and Animal Husbandry V Lakshma Reddy said that there is no need to panic Coronavirus can affect human respiration only but not cattle.

Talking about lions, Lakshma Reddy added “it’s a rare example with no such case registered earlier. It has to be researched how the infection reaches the lions living in a safari far from the population.” Recalling the origin of the virus, the novel-coronavirus is likely to have originated in a wet market in Wuhan, where different meats and seafood are sold. But experts say this is no reason to run away from meat or poultry if you’re living elsewhere.