Manila beef products safe, says Atienza

Manila Mayor Lito Atienza has assured Manila residents and other consumers to the safety of meats particularly beef produced and traded in Manila especially those coming from the newly rehabilitated Vitas Slaughterhouse.

In the midst of the current public health concern over the epidemic of mad cow disease in Europe, Jose Diaz, city veterinarian and Veterinary Inspection Board (VIB) chairman, reported that only Australian and local cattle are being slaughtered at Vitas Slaughterhouse. These cattle, he noted, are free of the mad cow disease.

"We have always maintained the highest standards at the newly renovated Vitas Slaughterhouse. We would like to assure the public that the meat coming from that facility is safe and free from disease," Atienza said. The Philippines has strictly banned the entry of any beef and cattle coming from infected areas like Europe.

The newly rehabilitated slaughterhouse is still the biggest supplier of beef in the country. It is operated by the Manila government in partnership with DEALCO Farms, Inc., the biggest beef company in the country.

Diaz has also given orders to all VIB veterinarians, meat inspectors and the VIB special squad to strictly monitor and confiscate beef coming from abroad without proper veterinary quarantine certificate.

As part of its public information effort to promote public health, the VIB of Manila in cooperation with DEALCO Farms, Inc. will sponsor a special lecture on "Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)" or mad cow disease" which causes the infectious and fatal disease in human called "Creutzfeldt – Jacob Disease" (CJD).

The speaker is Dr. Shingo Inoue, a researcher from Japan whose special field of study is the mad cow disease. The lecture shall be held on March 8 at 1-5 p.m. at the VIB Conference Room.

Public Health workers of Manila and all local veterinarians are expected to attend. Interested parties can call Beth or Grace at tel. nos. 254-2534/254-2556 for further information.