Poultry pickle

There are no reports of illness experienced by people who would have consumed chicken salvaged from a washed-up container in Hellshire, St Catherine, last week. Nonetheless, health inspectors in the parish say they will remain on the ground for at least another three days in an attempt to remove the products from the public space.

“There haven’t been any reports. Not that I am aware of. We are presently canvassing Hellshire, and up to this point, my officers have not reported anything,” Medical Officer for Health for St Catherine Dr Prosper Chen told The Gleaner yesterday.

Chen could not say, up to yesterday afternoon, how much of the meat had been seized or whether anyone had been found or sanctioned for attempting to sell it. She noted, however, that the observation being done is limited to commercial outlets, and does not include households in which the meat may have turned up.

“What we are looking for now is to ensure that the meat does not go into general circulation, so what we are doing is to take any product that we find that we think might be related to this product. I’m waiting for my officers to report,” she told The Gleaner, noting that she would have been informed of urgent matters immediately.

“If there are any concerns, then the ministries will get together to decide what further is to be done,” noted Chen.

Scores of persons quickly descended on the beach when a container with the chicken products washed ashore last Thursday and made off with most of its contents.

The Ministry of Agriculture has disclosed that the chicken, labelled under the Brazilian brand Perdix, was not intended for the Jamaican market. The ministry said it fell from a vessel during transit to the Cayman Islands. It warned of possible outbreaks of the highly pathogenic avian anfluenza, or ‘bird flu’, which continues to be a global threat. The ministry also pointed to the lack of the necessary import permits, and that the contents of the container would not have been maintained under ideal, cold-chain (frozen) conditions, raising serious health concerns.

Michael Williams, director of environmental health in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, warned the public that the meat may have suffered “temperature abuse”, having been at sea for at least two days.

Like Williams, Opposition Spokesman on Health Dr Alfred Dawes warned of the possibility of a salmonella outbreak. Dawes said he had no reports of illnesses from consuming the chicken.

Salmonella, or salmonellosis, a bacterial infection, typically causes diarrhoea, fever, and stomach cramps, and its symptoms usually appear within six hours to six days after infection. It usually lasts four to seven days. However, yesterday residents of Hellshire brushed those concerns aside.

“Trust me, none of the chicken companies in Jamaica don’t sell nice chicken like this! From Friday night I have been eating chicken until now,” shared one man, who said he has been living in the area for more than 20 years.

One Greater Portmore resident, who has at least two parcels of the meat, said that her friend and her family had consumed the chicken.

Shelly* said she was still sceptical, and was waiting at least a week before preparing the two parcels she received for herself and three children. She is not convinced, however, that it will cause any harm.

Meanwhile, Sherika Whitelocke-Ballingsingh, public health inspector and head of the Caribbean Poison Information Network, had some concerns and questions for the Government.

“I find it quite strange that only one container fell off and made its way here. Nevertheless, I know everyone is going to cry about available resources, but I think the Government should have gotten the security forces and the inspectorate to go in and try to seize as much of that thing as possible, and that should have been done within the first 24 hours,” she charged.

“I’m also not seeing the public health departments instructing persons who have consumed this meat and are having ill-health effects to come in. If you consume it and you get ill, would you go and report it? The answer is no. So it’s not a matter of waiting for people to come forward, but the ministry should be instructing them to come in,” she said.

Whitelocke-Ballingsingh said tracking the meat and its safety starts from the farms from which the chicken came. Then there is the matter of the container and the length of time it was at sea, its condition, and temperature changes over the period.

“Each country has its own laws that may be very different from Jamaica’s. What another country might approve, we might not approve here. And these are all measures that countries, like Jamaica, put in place to protect their people. We don’t know if the regulations that govern those other countries are up to par with ours,” she charged.

corey.robinson@gleanerjm.com