BfR says anthrax risk is ‘unlikely’

The agency said cattle from Slovakia were slaughtered in Poland but some animals of the same herd later became ill with and died of anthrax.

The animals slaughtered in Poland did not show any symptoms of illness.

Following clearance, the meat was delivered, via the Netherlands, to several meat processing plants in the EU, including Germany, before anthrax cases in the Slovakian herd became known.

The Netherlands and Sweden have also taken action by withdrawal from the market​.

Evaluation of risk​

For beef products which are subjected to heating but not sterilisation as part of the production process, it cannot be guaranteed that all spores are killed off, said the BfR.

However, the agency said infection with anthrax and subsequent cases of illness are unlikely.

It is also not expected that cases of anthrax will occur in staff in the plants that processed the meat from the animals slaughtered in Poland.

There is a slight chance that individual staff members with skin lesions working in the plants that cut up and processed the meat may become ill due to contact with contaminated meat products, said BfR.

Since the animals slaughtered in Poland and the meat that has entered the food chain did not show any signs of anthrax, the BfR is acting on the assumption that the two animals were not infected at all or they were in a very early stage of incubation.

This means that the animals themselves had no or only very few pathogens in their body.

Based on available data and the information provided by the Polish and Slovakian veterinary authorities, the BfR concluded that the probability of contamination with the pathogen or its spores of the carcases of the two cattle is ‘very low’.

Product recall​

A recall portal called lebensmittelwarnung lists (in German) numerous recalls across the country in the last week.

One example is Deutsches Corned Beef manufactured by Könecke Wurstfabrikation in Bremen.

The 100 and 200g packs of KöneckeDeutsches Corned Beef and Redlefsen Deutsches Corned Beef were sold in Dohle, Penny, Aldi Nord and Kaufland.

Baden-Württemberg, Bayern, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hessen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Niedersachsen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein, Thüringen were affected.

Infection with the pathogen is possible via direct transmission of the bacteria to humans or via consumption of contaminated meat and meat products.

Following an incubation period of several days, the illness can manifest itself as cutaneous (skin), pulmonary or intestinal anthrax.