Sir, I ordered the Wildebeest
Sir, I ordered the Wildebeest
Dusty Prater
20 December 2022
Dusty Prater
20 December 2022
Using genetic analysis of bushmeat from Tanzania, Africa, a global team of researchers recently found a 30% mismatch rate between what it was advertised as to what it actually was, which hinders public health measures relating to zoonotic diseases.
The bushmeat trade is an unfortunate reality of many African countries. Many poor locals rely on meat from wild animals, such as wildebeests, impala and various other mammals, for nutrition and for a source of income. Within the country of Tanzania, the migratory wildebeests are targeted, due to their impressive population size, with snare traps. Once an animal is caught, it is processed in the field, cut up into tiny bits, and then sent along a supply chain to be sold in various local markets. At each step in this chain, the chance of misidentifying what species the meat came from increases.
This misidentification has major implications for public health concerning zoonotic disease outbreaks, such as Ebola and Monkey Pox. For example, if a zoonotic disease was reported to have come from impala bushmeat, but really came from giraffe bushmeat, public health measures to stop the spread may not work as effectively. To address these concerns, the group of researchers wanted to compare what bushmeat sold at markets was being advertised as to what it actually was.
They did this by sequencing a tiny bit of DNA called the mitochondrial cytochrome gene, which is useful for identifying a wide range of species, in 151 samples of bushmeat from across Tanzania. By doing this, they were able to find that there was a 30% mismatch rate between what the label said and what the DNA said. Although their study wasn’t strong enough to see if there was a bias for mismatching certain types of species, they were able to conclude that rate of mismatching increased during the dry season, likely because the meat dried out and made it harder for the seller to identify what was being sold.
These findings and future studies like this will be important tools moving forward as more zoonotic diseases emerge.
Source: Schilling, Megan A., et al. "Molecular species identification of bushmeat recovered from the Serengeti ecosystem in Tanzania." PLoS ONE, vol. 15, no. 9, 14 Sept. 2020, http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0237590.