Beef sales in Dhaka have plummeted 75 percent as customers avoid the item due to the outbreak of anthrax, butchers and traders said.
They said demand for beef, the most popular food among the Muslims countrywide, has been dwindling since the disease broke out last month.
Beef traders in Dhaka said sales dropped by three-fourths due to the panic.
Abdul Hannan, a butcher at Shantinagar kitchen market, used to slaughter two cows a day before, but now he sells less than 25 kilograms a day. “That is when restaurant owners place orders.”
Parul Akhter, who has been in the trade for the last 25 years, said the same. She had to keep her shop shut since August 26, as customers are less interested in consuming beef.
Many restaurant owners said they struck beef off their menus due to the decreasing demand for the dish.
Large department stores also reported a decline in beef sales. “We used to sell 80 kilograms of beef a day before the outbreak of anthrax ,” said Maksudur Rahman, assistant manager of PQS in Shantinagar.
“But in the last 10 days, we have not sold the item, considering public health safety even though our suppliers are enlisted with Dhaka City Corporation,” he told The Daily Star yesterday.
Humayun Kabir, a butcher at Shonir Akhra bazar in Dhaka, said he slaughtered 10-12 cows last Eid-ul-Fitr, but this year, he slaughtered only four against his target of 40.
Beef traders also blamed the government’s sweeping comments on the disease that make people frightened, although none died so far from anthrax in Bangladesh.
“The government should alert people by providing concrete information on the disease, instead of scaring them,” said a trader at Gabtoli Cattle Market, the largest one in the city.
“Beef is a crucial item in food menus during any Eid, but we had to count huge losses ahead of last week’s Eid-ul-Fitr, as most customers shied away.”
“But this cannot continue for long. We want a solution. Otherwise, the industry will suffer,” the trader said.
Butchers and cattle traders also urged the government to prudently tackle the issue that poses a threat to the country’s dairy industry. It will further damage the industry ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, when hundreds of thousands of cattle are sacrificed to conform to Islamic principles, they said.
Eid-ul-Azha, now only about two months away, is one of the largest religious festivals for Muslims when 50 percent of the total number of cows slaughtered in Bangladesh.
Last year, over 72 lakh cows were slaughtered in Bangladesh, according to industry people.
Since the outbreak of anthrax on August 18, it infected 508 people, spreading to at least 10 districts, according to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), a national agency responsible for conducting disease surveillance and investigation.
