‘Adhere to health advisories on fish, meat’

SHILLONG, June 19: The Health department has asked citizens to adhere to the health advisories on consumption of fish, pork and beef and said it has sought reports from the Animal Husbandry & Veterinary and Fisheries departments on the status of formalin infection, African swine fever and lumpy skin disease.
The government had imposed a 15-day ban on imported fishes on June 8 following detection of formalin in several samples of imported fish while a large number of cattle have been infected with lumpy skin disease. Similarly, many pigs in some areas of the state have died due to African swine fever.
Reacting to these concerns, Health Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh the reports to be submitted by the departments will put a cap on certain meat that is consumed by the public.
Asking people to adhere to the advisories, she said it is the duty of the government to take the advice of various line departments who are saying that consumption of some types of meat could pose health risks.
Meanwhile, Fisheries Minister AL Hek said the government is contemplating to set up a dedicated testing centre to check the presence of formalin in imported varieties of fish.
Disclosing that Pasteur Institute has a fully-functional laboratory which could be turned into a testing centre, Hek said the fact-finding committee instituted by the department to investigate the presence of formalin in imported fish is yet to submit its report.
The team is trying to establish how and where formalin was injected into the fishes before being transported to the state.