Toxic fish feed may cause human death
Say scientists
Consumption of fish which has been fed toxic food and reared in polluted waters can cause serious health hazards, sometimes even leading to death.
Chief Scientific Officer of Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute (BFRI) Dr Yahia Mahmud said this yesterday while presenting a key-note paper at a seminar titled “Safe Fish Cultivation to Protect Public Health”.
BFRI organised the seminar at Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council auditorium in the city.
Pathogen produced from unhygienic sanitation and untreated poultry faeces causes cholera, diarrhea, dysentery and typhoid while heavy metals in untreated effluent can even lead to cancer, blindness and deafness, said Dr Yahia.
Fish farmers use different types of harmful chemicals including insecticides and antibiotics in rearing fish that could cause tumor, cancer and physical and mental disabilities. Such chemicals also hamper the normal breeding process and growth of fish, said Dr Yahia.
Dhaka University Zoology department Prof Dr M Niamul Naser said Farmers feed fish with metronidazol, a medicine used to cure gastroenteritis (stomach inflammation due to bacterial infection) in humans. When this fish is consumed, the bacteria in that person's body becomes resistant, making the medicine ineffective when administered later.
Speaking as the chief guest, Agriculture Minister Begum Matia Chowdhury stressed the need for proper implementation of existing laws to ensure safe fish farming, enabling the country to earn foreign currency and its people to stay healthy.
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