Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Bushmeat back on the diet of post-ebola Africa.

And I thought SPAM was questionable..................


https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...a-8002-11e6-ad0e-ab0d12c779b1_story.html

[quote]
FILE-In this file photo taken on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2014, Yaa Kyarewaa, await clients as she stands next to her makeshift bush meat shop at one of the largest local markets in Accra, Ghana. As the deadly outbreak of Ebola has subsided, people in several West African countries are flocking to eat bush meat again after restrictions were lifted on the consumption of wild animals like hedgehogs and cane rats. But some health experts call it a risky move. (Christian Thompson, File/Associated Press)
By Hilaire Zon and Carley Petesch | AP September 21 at 11:31 AM
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — As the deadly outbreak of Ebola has subsided, people in several West African countries are flocking to eat bushmeat again after restrictions were lifted on the consumption of wild animals like hedgehogs and cane rats. But some health experts call it a risky move.

Ivory Coast, which neighbors two of the three countries where Ebola killed more than 11,300 people since December 2013, lifted its ban on wild animal meat this month.

The meat of squirrel, deer, fruit bats and rats has long been a key source of protein for many in the region, but it is also a potential source of the Ebola virus.

Though bushmeat hasn’t officially been linked to West Africa’s recent Ebola outbreak, the deadliest in history, infections in Africa have been associated with hunting, butchering and processing meat from infected animals, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. The Ebola virus is then spread through direct contact with the bodily fluids of victims or corpses.

“From a public health standpoint, this decision is unfortunate at best,” said Ben Neuman, a virologist at Texas A&M University-Texarkana. “The only source of Ebola in the world is infected animals, and there’s good evidence that some of these animals, like bats, can be infected for a long time.”

However, not all bushmeat is equal, he said. Bats pass on the virus and travel far. Some types of rodents can get the virus. Primate meat is likely not as much of a danger, given that they succumb to Ebola more quickly than people.

“There’s a good case for banning the sale of bats as bushmeat. The other sources are a lesser risk,” Neuman said. “I don’t want to see it all legal, but we don’t want to see people go hungry, either.”

Ivory Coast, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ghana all warned against, or banned, the sale of bushmeat in 2014 as the outbreak emerged. They began rolling back those restrictions after the World Health Organization said in March that Ebola was no longer an international health emergency.

Many in the countries are happy that they can now enjoy the meat they have always relied on. Some believe it is tastier than imported meats or chicken, and it’s often cheaper.

“We weren’t happy that the government banned us from eating bushmeat these past two years. But we did what we were told because of Ebola,” said Lucien Douhan while shopping for bushmeat in the Yopougon suburb of Abidjan.

In the teeming open-air markets, vendors handled the stiffened meat in recognizable animal form. Bat wings competed for space on worn wooden tables with other meat, some tails and claws still attached. Flies buzzed. A machete hacked.

Those who sell the meat say they have been through hard times.

“We couldn’t afford for our kids to go to school. It was hard for us. We had to sell frogs so the kids could eat, and we sold snails too,” said Brigitte Gahie. “But today, thanks be to God, the meat is back and the people are coming back.”

In Guinea, bushmeat sales are still illegal, said Mohamed Tall, the minister of livestock and animal production there. Despite the ban, people still consume it.

“We ate it before Ebola. We eat it after Ebola. Nothing can stop me from eating it,” said Marcel Yombouno in Guinea.

Liberia issued a warning against the consumption of bushmeat during Ebola, but now the meat is being sold openly. In Sierra Leone, a bushmeat ban has been lifted.

Ebola first appeared in 1976 in Congo and has caused periodic outbreaks there and in other African countries. Its re-emergence is likely, said Neuman, given the densely populated areas where Ebola has occurred.

“Ebola will come again,” he said. “Hopefully we will be ready this time.”/quote]

Think of the American possibilities:
coyote
jack rabbit
porcupine
skunk
feral cat
rock chucks
nutria...

the gourmet list is endless

My grandparents used to eat any and all of those, plus others like possum, raccoon, woodchuck, trash fish, muskrat. I suppose it would not be bad if one cooked it well and handled it properly.

[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY4V3UUY95A][/url]

Lets see if this works, won't pop up, sorry

Here ya' go

You fergot possums & armerdillers

Mike

I spent a couple of weeks in the Congo rainforest with Pygmies. This area was the birthplace of Ebola. I ate duiker and sitatunga that I cooked myself. The Pygmies ate monkey that was almost raw. They would place it in a fire not skinned or gutted. After the hair was burned off they would eat it. I never tried any.

And here I was thinking "Bushmeat" was the term for eating humans?

Well I guess if it's a choice between bush meat and starving to death, bush meat possibly tainted with ebola sounds downright appetizing. I'd cook the living hell out of it that's for sure.

From what I've read, meat markets in China & SE Asia will give you a case of the dry heaves, too.
I once listened to a talk by a missionary from Cambodia. He had a bamboo mouse live trap that he'd brought home. The people there use them to catch mini-steaks for the table.

How it can be imported legally, I know not but I have seen sacks of bushmeat in African emporia, here in Phoenix. I lived in Ghana for 18 months and am well acquainted with the smell but NOT the taste.

Are you sure it was imported? AZ has its own supply of bushmeat on the hoof. Once the hide's off, many animals look very much alike.

Nope, that term would be "Long Pig". Apparently we taste like pork, and not chicken.

Hmmm... Ive eaten all manner of odd things. Probably some monkey in the Philippines. I was told it was monkey and didn't doubt it. Who knows what we eat that would seem strange to them or anyone else?I know my wife and son would not eat a lot of it unless it were a matter of life and death, and I'm not so sure even then?

Been around a bit, seen more than a few odd events.
Watching a logging crew in Equatorial Africa "cook" bush meat over the exhaust stack of a Cat being amongst em'.
I'm not talking about using "manifold cookery" here,....they were hangin' Bobo's parts and pieces offa sticks, and dangling em' right in the exhaust plume.

GTC

Hey, I'm all for Darwins principles at work around the globe.

There's not much that scares the bejesus out of me, but Ebola and like diseases certainly do. I remember discussing with other healthcare professionals the chances of Ebloa mutating and becoming airborne a couple years ago during the height of the outbreak. While the odds of that happening are pretty slim, the odds of that being extremely horrific should it happen are damn near 100%.

It's not quite an extinction level event (with an airborne Ebola) but it would certainly thin the herd, maybe by up to 50%. There is no real protections in place either should something like that occur. From what I've seen the reactions would come far too late to be of any benefit.

Not to change the subject, but if that video is accurate, the guy could merit a Darwin award. You don't have to die to get one. You just need to render yourself unable to reproduce and pass on your stupid gene.

Schweh! Me d'yaah, me dit n'fiyeh miensa (three years) wo Ghana, wo Ashanti Region.

Turns out there's bushmeat and then there's bushmeat. Giant rats are about as big as woodchucks, and live clean, pretty much a freebie when one is working one's farm. Not a whole lot diff'rent from squirrels or rabbits really. I ate some porcupine once, fresh off the snare, but it was so gamey I could hardly get it down. I didn't care to partake of Topi hide buried a few days in the earth first either.

While one does develop some tolerance for the taste of rancid meat, I could never eat the dried stuff from the market. Those little whole dried fish however were quite good, especially boiled up in peanut soup poured over banku (fermented ground corn mush). Throw in okra and peppers to taste

Birdwatcher

I'm certain that I saw bits of Iguana & monkey in the sack