Health Minister Dr
Aaron Motsoaledi says while it cannot be concluded that Sovereign Foods
abattoir is the source of the Listeriosis outbreak, stopping the
facility from food preparation was "in the best interest of public
health".
"At this juncture,
we cannot conclude that the abattoir called Sovereign Foods is the
source of the present outbreak. [However] we can conclude that it has
Listeria, which can cause illness and hence it was in the best interest
of public health that the abattoir was prohibited from further preparing
food, pending the cleaning of the environment and meeting certain
conditions given to them.
"What concerns us
more at this moment is that this particular abattoir was closed two
months ago by DAFF [Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries]
following the discovery of unhygienic conditions and practices, which of
course were not necessarily related to Listeria," said the Minister on
Monday at a briefing in Tshwane.
|
Dr Aaron Motsoaledi |
The Department of
Health has put the Listeriosis outbreak on high surveillance as 119 new
cases have occurred since 5 December 2017 and 61 patients have passed
on.